BS 2505 
. R355 
Copy 1 







Copyright N° 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT: 




































Paul’s Conversion 


Told in Couplets 


By 

CHAS. P RE1TZEL 


Author of 

"Robert Woodknoiv's Difficulties," "Sin: Its Result, 
Its Cure," "Church and State," "Head 
Covering for Women," etc. 


1911 



s eiders’ book and job rooms 

POTTSVIEEE, PA. 










s'o 5 

-f?35'5 


Copyrighted 1911 
by 

Chas. F. Reitzee, 
Auburn, Pa. 






©CI.A^974G4 

Wb. I 






PREFACE 


\ 


A BOUT ten or more years ago while sitting in Sun¬ 
day School there flashed upon the writer’s mind as 
by inspiration or revelation the fact of the dualism 
in the records of Paul’s conversion. He observed for the 
first time that everything seemed to go by twos or coup- 
, lets. It was a new conception of an old story. He took 
a pencil and a little piece of paper and began to note down 
the couplets as they rushed in close and rapid succession 
into his mind. It was only a few minutes until he had a 
half dozen or more of them. These couplets were de¬ 
veloped later on into two sermons which were preached 
to his own people. Since that time one couplet after 
another has been added to the list, until the number has 
reached eleven, as seen in the little volume before you. 

During all these years of a decade or more we have 
been culling here and there a few of the results of our 
reading and meditations and have classified them under 
the several couplets of the little book now in your hands. 
This will account for a number of the familiar faces in the 
matter presented. For the general plan or outline of the 
work we claim originality, but lest we be charged with 
plagiarism, we make no such claims for all of the matter. 
We therefore take this opportunity of giving credit to one 
and all from whose writings we have gathered either in¬ 
spiration, or thought, or matter, in the preparation of this 
book and for which there has been no immediate credit 
given elsewhere. 


Auburn, Pa., 1911. 


CHAS. F. REITZEL. 







cjjrruTmrnjTJTJTJTrijTm 

PAUL’S CONVERSION 



TOLD IN COUPLETS 


M ORE than nineteen hundred years ago a new re¬ 
ligion made its appearance. At once it met with 
bitter opposition. The life of its Author, while 
yet a babe, was sought by a cruel king. Among the chief 
opponents of this new religion was a young Hebrew by 
the name of Saul. The records show that he figured 
prominently in the martyrdom of Stephen, casting, it is 
said, the first stone. Later we see this incensed young 
Hebrew on the way to Damascus with letters of authority 
that he might bring bound Christians back to Jerusalem 
to be put to death. But before he reaches that ancient 
city he is smitten to the earth by a supernatural light, 
brighter than the sun at noonday. In his prostrate con¬ 
dition a conversation with Jesus ensues. He rises to his 
feet. He goes into the city to an old disciple by the name 
of Ananias and is there told what he must do. In brief, 
this is the story of Paul’s conversion experience and out 
of this experience grew everything that afterwards was 
praiseworthy in his life. 

A large part of three lengthy chapters of the Acts— 
the ninth, the twenty-second and the twenty-sixth—is 
given to the narration of Paul’s conversion, while often 
the conversion of a whole multitude, numbering several 
thousand, is told in a single verse of Scripture (Acts 2:41; 
4:4). This peculiar fact may give rise to some very 
strange questions in the mind of the Bible reader. He 
will wonder why this distinction is made in the records of 
the conversion of sinners. Is God a respecter of persons? 




6 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


Are the ways of the Lord not equal ? Why should the 
record of eight thousand conversions take up less than 
one per cent, of the space given to that of one man’s con¬ 
version? There must be a reason for this somewhere. 

The difference is not in the men, but in the circum¬ 
stances. Christianity was a new religion, and it must es¬ 
tablish its claims by “miracles, and wonders, and signs.” 
To do this, the condition of a man before Christianity 
found him, must be as well known as his condition after 
Christianity wrought in him a change. Otherwise the 
people would not know but that his condition was always 
the same. A new religion could not prove its super¬ 
natural origin by giving prominence to a convert who all 
his life had lived in seclusion. A physician might make 
the boast that he had healed a man of a generally ac¬ 
cepted incurable disease. He might even produce as 
proof the man himself in whose body there was not even 
a trace of the disease from which he claimed he had cured 
him. But what if the man were a stranger to everybody? 
What proof would you have that he had ever been af¬ 
flicted with an incurable disease? So far as your knowl¬ 
edge of the case extended he might always have been a 
healthy man. The evidences establishing a man’s disease 
must be as strong and as well founded as the evidences 
substantiating his healing. Elijah had twelve barrels of 
water poured upon his sacrifice on Mount Carmel in order 
to show the utter impossibility of the presence of common 
fire. The absence of common fire must be fully demon¬ 
strated in order to prove the presence of heavenly fire. 
We cannot establish Christ’s resurrection from the dead 
if there is no evidence to first show that He was really 
dead. A living man cannot be raised to life. 

The eight thousand converts were people largely 
from the common walks of life, persons that were scarcely 
known in the city of Jerusalem. To have held these con¬ 
verts up as examples of what the Gospel can do for sinful 
men their enemies likely would have said, “Who knows 
these people? What proofs can you produce to show us 
that these men were ever any different from what we see 


PAUL’S CONVEKSION 


7 


them at present?” With Saul of Tarsus it was different. 
His hatred for Christians was not kept a secret. What 
he had to say he said openly. His persecutions were over 
and above board. His act in securing letters for the 
binding and imprisonment of believers was not done in a 
corner. His voice of testimony against those that were 
put to death he made no effort to conceal. He hid noth¬ 
ing under the cover of darkness. His journey to Damas¬ 
cus was made under the glaring light of the noonday sun. 
His hostility against the followers of the lowly Nazarene 
was so manifest that his intentions were known in Da¬ 
mascus, a city more than one hundred miles distant from 
Jerusalem, sometime before he reached its precints. 
Hence the lengthy accounts of his conversion.* 

That there was a change in the life of Paul no one 
can deny. All those who knew him, and they were many, 
were ready to admit it. He hated what he once loved 
and loved what he once hated. So all agree as 
to the fact: that there was such a change, how¬ 
ever greatly they may disagree in accounting 
for the fact. The German rationalist says there 
was no miracle in what happened to Paul on 
the road to Damascus. He tells us that Paul was 
an excitable man; that he was journeying to Damas¬ 
cus over the plain, which is notoriously hot, and it was 
noonday, and he got a sunstroke; and then in his fever 
he thought he saw visions and heard voices. The whole 
thing, say they, was a subjective delusion, and not an ob¬ 
jective reality. Who ever heard of a sunstroke turning a 
persecutor into a preacher, or an infidel into an evan¬ 
gelist? We have heard of a mission worker who suffered 
a partial sunstroke, and he never did a stroke of work for 
one year and six months. Yet Paul gets a full sunstroke 
according to the German critics and he immediately be- 


*This same principle explains the extended account of the healing of the lame 
man (Acts 4), while a few words record the restoration of a whole group (Acts 5:16). 
The lame man was a daily subject of public charity at the Temple. All Jerusalem 
knew he was lame. Hence when he is seen “leaping and praising God” even the 
Jewish council confessed that a manifest notable miracle had been performed 
which they could not deny (Acts 4:16). 



8 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


gins to preach. If this German theory is correct, then 
we had better close our theological seminaries, and stand 
our prospective candidates for the ministry out against a 
brick wall in the sun and sunstroke the whole lot of them, 
for we can think of no greater benefactor and preacher 
than Paul. The only way in which we can consistently 
account for the change in Paul’s life is to say, that it was 
due to the presence of the supernatural power of a risen 
and glorified Christ and communicated to him through 
the medium of the Holy Ghost. 

There lived years ago two eminent lawyers, one Lord 
Lyttelton and the other named West. These two men 
were liberal in their thoughts respecting the miraculous. 
One day they got to talking about their views, and finally 
one said to the other, “Well, we cannot maintain our posi¬ 
tion until we disprove two things: first, the reputed con¬ 
version of Saul of Tarsus, and secondly, the reputed res¬ 
urrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Said Lyttelton 
to West, “I will write a book to prove that Saul of Tarsus 
was never converted in the way in which the Acts of the 
Apostles record.” And said West to Lyttelton, “I will 
write a book to prove that Jesus Christ did not rise from 
the dead as the evangelists say.” Well, in due time these 
two men wrote their books, and when they met after¬ 
wards, West said to Lyttelton, “How did you get on?” 
“I have written my book,” said Lyttleton, “but as I have 
studied the evidence from a legal standpoint, I have be¬ 
come convinced that Saul of Tarsus was converted in just 
the way the Acts of the Apostles say he was, and I have 
become a Christian.” And West sifted the evidences for 
the resurrection of Jesus from a legal standpoint, and be¬ 
came satisfied that He was raised from the dead just as 
the Gospels record, and he wrote a book in defense of 
Christianity. 

But it is to the story of Paul’s conversion—that mar¬ 
vellous miracle of Divine grace—to which we call the 
attention of our reader in this little volume, and beg him 
to patiently follow us as we shall attempt to unfold its 
beauties and disclose its riches in the couplets that follow. 


THE COUPLET OF COMMISSIONS 


i c 


I went to Damascus with authority and commis¬ 
sion from the chief priests.’’—Acts 26:12. 

“And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into 
Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things 
which are appointed for thee to do.”—Acts 22:10. 


P AUL’S first commission was from the chief priests. 
This commission represented the opposition of the 
cross and was dominated by the prince of the power 
of the air. In imagination one can almost see that fren¬ 
zied young Hebrew as he starts down that Damascus 
road with those letters of authority in his possession. He 
has but one object in view; that is, the extermination 
of the new faith so suddenly sprung into existence. His 
soul is on fire with a passion for destruction. His blind 
zeal is all but consuming him. His madness is fairly eat¬ 
ing him up. But see, suddenly he catches a glimpse of 
the risen and glorified Savior. He is changed and that 
in a moment. He drops those iniquitous letters which he 
had received from the chief priests and which constituted 
his commission for his diabolical work of destruction. 
He looks to another source for authority. He asks the 
Lord what he shall do, and immediately he receives the 
second, and better commission of his life, and to which 
ever afterwards he was conscientiously obedient. 

The authors of man’s two commissions—God and 
Satan—are direct opposites. What one favors the other 
opposes. What one advocates the other disapproves. 
What one builds up the other tears down. What one 
would bring to pass the other would bring to naught. In 
nothing are they a unit; in everything they are at vari¬ 
ance, so that it is impossible to obey the orders of both at 




10 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


one and the same time. Yet ever and anon man hears 
sounding in his ears the mandates of these two great per¬ 
sonalities of the universe. And somehow, consciously or 
unconsciously, voluntarily or involuntarily, every man is 
yielding obedience to the one or the other. The one is so 
diametrically opposed to the other that it is impossible to 
carry out the will and wish of both. “No man can serve 
two masters.” The Thessalonians had first to be “turned 
from their idols to serve the living and true God.” Nor 
can man place himself in a position in which he will yield 
obedience to neither. Between the service of these two 
great rulers there is no neutral ground. Man will either 
hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the 
one and despise the other. If man refuses to take a stand 
with God, he then, by that very refusal, assumes a posi¬ 
tion against Him. If he does not gather with Christ he 
scatters abroad. And “know ye not, that to whom ye 
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to 
whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience 
unto righteousness.” 

There is no limit to a man’s influence for good or 
evil if given wholly and absolutely over to one or the 
other of these two sources of authority. Let an indi¬ 
vidual fully yield his “members as instruments of un¬ 
righteousness unto sin;” let him sell himself to work 
wickedness in the sight of the Lord, and there is no depth 
to which he cannot sink, On the other hand, let him 
fully and absolutely yield his “members as instruments 
of righteousness unto God,” and there is no limit to the 
good of his life. The only limit is that which he himself 
imposes by the limitation of his surrender. A man gets 
all of the Divine life that his yielding makes room for. If 
there is an absolute, sweeping, irrevocable giving over of 
one’s time, talents, possessions, plans, hopes, aspirations 
and purposes, taking the place of a bond-slave to do His 
will, then you may expect marvels. If there is once a 
saying to the Master, as one puts it, “Lord, I accept Thy 
will for my life. Whatever Thou dost want, take; 
whatever Thou wouldst have come, send; wherever Thou 


PAUL’S CONVEKSION 


11 


wouldst have me go, lead; whatever Thou wouldst have 
me surrender, reveal,” then you may look for something 
extraordinary to follow. It was while on a visit to Eng¬ 
land, 1 believe, that Mr. Varley said to Moody, “Mr. 
Moody, this generation has yet to see what God can do 
with a man wholly consecrated to His will.” Mr. Moody 
replied, “By the help of God I shall be that man.” And 
he made good his purpose. 

And let those remember who are desirous of becom¬ 
ing a power, that they will never control power until 
power first controls them. The centurion, whose servant 
Jesus healed, incidentally as it were, discovered the very 
root principle of power over others through his life of 
yieldedness to the power of Rome. Said he, “I am a man 
under authority.” And he was. He was subject to the 
power and authority of Rome. He had no will of his 
own. The will of Rome ruled him. Rome owned him 
absolutely and he acknowledged his owner. He was sub¬ 
servient to Rome’s every wish. Therefore the man 
“under authority” became the man of authority. He 
who said, “I am a man under authority,” could also say, 
“Go, and he goeth ;” “come, and he cometh ;” “do this, and 
he doeth it.” Old Rome which had overpowered him and 
became his master, now empowers him and exalts him to 
the position of a master. Once Rome’s power possessed 
him, now he possesses Rome’s power. Once Rome gave 
commands to him, now Rome gives commands through 
him. The power that once controlled him is now con¬ 
trolled by him. He had learned the art of obeying, there¬ 
fore he was obeyed. No man will ever get power to in¬ 
fluence and control men for God until they once allow the 
power of God to influence and control them. Anarchists 
never establish order. Lawless officers of the law are 
never a force in enforcing the law. An unconverted man 
never makes many converts. A worldly Christian leads 
few people into the path of a separated life. The wind 
pump could say, “I am a machine under authority; I have 
conformed to, and obeyed, the laws of the wind; therefore 
I can say to the pump beneath me, Go and it goeth.” 


12 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


The electric power plant could say, “I am a thing under 
authority; I was built under, and in conformity with, the 
laws of electricity; hence I can say to the current on this 
wire, Go and light Mr. So-and-So’s house, and it goeth 
and lighteth it; and to another wire, Go and move yonder 
trolley car, and it goeth and moveth it.” 

The master mechanic had shown a man through the 
great car works where hundreds of men were at work. It 
was a great railroad plant at the end of a division of one 
of our greatest railroads. It was an inspiring hour for 
the visitor. The order, the power that he saw displayed, 
the splendid system with which everything was managed, 
filled the man with admiration for the one man under 
whose charge all those great activities were being carried 
on. He had the oversight of everything. Every man in 
the employ of that division was under him. Every train 
that went out or came in, every pound of coal that was 
used, every gill of oil, every can of paint, every bolt, every 
particle of repair to car or roadbed, were all under this 
man’s supervision. After the visitor had gone through 
the great shops, and was chatting in the plain but well- 
appointed office, he said to the master mechanic, “How 
did you get this position?” having heard the great me¬ 
chanic say that he had begun work in that immense shop 
as a laborer. Turning to the visitor simply, he replied— 
and in a way never to be forgotten—“I have reached my 
present position by doing what I was told.” If a man de¬ 
sires to rule, let him first allow himself to be ruled. If he 
desires to be obeyed, let him first obey. James couples 
submission to God with power even over devils—“Submit 
yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil and he will 
flee from you.” 

There is a fine distinction in Paul’s two commissions 
which we must not overlook. In many respects the two 
are alike. Both called for a journey. Both led to Da¬ 
mascus. Both had to do with disciples. Both repre¬ 
sented a religion. But in point of motive and object the 
difference between them was the difference between God 
and Satan, between heaven and hell. Two “drummers” 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


13 


may start out from the same town, take passage on the 
same train, sit in the same coach, get off at the same sta¬ 
tion, secure accommodations at the same hotel, eat at the 
same table, visit the same merchants and sell goods to the 
same firms, yet represent two rival business houses. And 
it is simply astonishing the extent to which a man may 
go in matters of religion and still follow the orders of 
God’s rival, the devil. Before a man flatters himself with 
the amount of good he is doing for the Lord he should 
solemnly ask himself these questions: from whom am I 
taking my orders and whose is the glory I am seeking in 
what I am doing? 

Between the cities of Harrisburg and Lancaster there 
are two lines of travel—the Harrisburg Turnpike and the 
main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Turnpike 
was built first. Later the Railroad was built. And those 
familiar with these two lines of travel will remember that 
at places the two lines are miles apart, at other places the 
two run parallel for quite a distance and at still other 
points the one line crosses and recrosses the other. Now 
the fact that these two lines often run parallel one with 
the other does not prove that there is harmony between 
the management of these two corporations. Nor must 
we think that the wills of the two are a unit because the 
one line crosses the other. Far from it. At the places 
where the two roads run parallel each company is follow¬ 
ing its own desires as much and as fully as in the in¬ 
stances where the roads of the two companies are miles 
apart; and at points where the Railroad crosses the Turn¬ 
pike the management of the Railroad is following its own 
selfish will as much as if no turnpike ever existed. 

Now from this life to that which is to come the will of 
God outlines a path for man’s feet. Between the same 
two points the will of man as dominated by the devil out¬ 
lines another path. At places these two paths run par¬ 
allel, at other places the one crosses the other, while at 
still other points the two are widely at variance. Reader, 
do not delude yourself by thinking you are given over to 
the Lord’s will because you agree with God in some 


14 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


things and are a unit with Him in other things. Do not 
show yourself to be duped by such subtilty of the Devil. 
If you are yielded to the will of God, then why do you 
follow Him in some things and not all? Is it not a fact 
that the things in which you follow the Lord’s will are 
the things that appeal favorably to your will? What 
course would you pursue if those points in which you are 
in harmony with the Lord were obnoxious to you? Would 
you still obey? Or would you do with those things also 
as you are now doing with the points of His law that you 
dislike—disregarding them? Do you not see that you 
are following your own selfish, carnal desires in those 
things in which your acts are in harmony with His will 
as fully as if your acts were radically and morally at vari¬ 
ance with His will? In short, you are doing no different 
from what you would do if there were no will of God in 
existence. 

And, after all, to obey is the only path of safety. A 
man is more secure in the jungles of Africa, or among the 
crocodiles and tigers of India, if he is there in obedience 
to the expressed will of God, than to be in the homeland, 
living in a fire-proof, lightning-proof, tornado-proof and 
germ-proof building, if there against the expressed will of 
his Maker. “Who is he that will harm you, if ye be fol¬ 
lowers of that which is good?” 

“They who follow God’s direction 
May be sure of God’s protection.” 

On one occasion the disciples cautioned the Master 
against His purpose to go into Judea, reminding Him of 
the recent plot of the Tews to stone Him. Hear His sig¬ 
nificant reply: “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If 
any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he 
seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the 
night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.” 
What does He mean? Simply this: the Lord gives to 
every man a certain work to do, as well as a specific time 
in which to do the work. If in that given time he per¬ 
forms his allotted task he is divinely safe. Such a man 
is “immortal until his work is done.” 



P AUL asked Jesus but two simple questions, only 
two. And this couplet of questions might also 
very appropriately be called the couplet of Christian 
service, as these two questions and their answers give in 
a nutshell everything that can be said upon the subject of 
the believer’s duty to his Lord. 

The order in which these two questions appear did 
not come by chance. They were inspired by the Holy 
Ghost, for Paul calls Jesus “Lord” in each question, and 
“no man can call Jesus Lord except by the Holy Ghost.” 
It is first, “Who art Thou, Lord?” and then afterwards, 
“What wilt Thou have me to do?” 

A man must first know Christ, “whom to know aright 
is life eternal,” before he is in a position to render ac¬ 
ceptable service to Him. There can be no answer to the 
second question unless there is first learned the true an¬ 
swer to the first. 

Nicodemus, a man who had no saving knowledge of 
Jesus, once called the Master a “Teacher come from 
God;” but Jesus quickly corrected the idea of being a 
teacher of an unregenerate man by saying, “Ye must be 
born again.” It is a useless task to attempt to teach un¬ 
converted men the things the Lord would have His child¬ 
ren do. “The carnal mind is enmity against God, is not 
subject to the law of God; neither indeed can be.” “Be 
ye transformed,” says the Apostle, “by the renewing of 
your minds.” And why? “That ye may prove what is 
that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God.” 




16 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


Where such a transformation is lacking it is impossible 
to have the “good, and acceptable and perfect will” of ser¬ 
vice. 

Certain preparation is necessary on the part of the 
sinner in order to make it possible for him to serve the 
Lord. He needs a new nature. A bad tree cannot bring 
forth good fruit; nor can an impure fountain bring forth 
pure water. He needs to be reconciled. A certain king 
was presented with a magnificent, richly jewelled crown 
by one of his subjects who was living in open rebellion 
against him. The king sent the crown back to the giver 
with these words: “Return first to your allegiance, and 
then I will accept the crown as a token of your loyalty.” 
He needs to be accepted. The writer remembers how 
when a boy he went into a field where a few of his young 
companions were hired in picking stones. He joined his 
young companions and in everything did apparently as 
they did. But when pay day came they received re¬ 
muneration for their services and the writer got nothing. 
And why this distinction? They had hired themselves 
and were accepted, but the writer was not. 

All service before regeneration—before we truly 
know Christ and are known of Him—is nothing more 
than “works of the flesh,” the products of the old nature 
and designated in the Bible as “dead works.” They are 
called “dead works,” because they proceed from men who 
are “dead in trespasses and in sins.” They are termed 
“works” because they can be produced only by an effort. 
In contrast with these “dead works” of the flesh the Bible 
places the “fruit of the Spirit.” It is styled “fruit” be¬ 
cause the products of the spiritual man are the sponta¬ 
neous outgrowth of the life of Christ within. You can 
take a dead body and make it move, providing you place 
enough batteries beneath it, but the movements will be 
only those of a galvanized corpse—“dead works”—pro¬ 
ceeding from a dead man, mechanically produced. The 
difference between the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit 
of the Spirit” is the difference between art and Nature. 
The landscape in art is painted —a work; the landscape 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


17 


produced by Nature is grown and thrills with life and 
beauty. 

“No more is their religion 

Like His in life and deed, 

Than painted grass on canvas 
Is like the living seed.” 

Note, too, that even good deeds may also be “works 
of the flesh.” It is not our sins that the Bible calls “filthy 
rags,” but our “righteousness.” The offerings of old ex¬ 
cluded both honey and leaven. The honey stands for 
man’s goodness and the leaven for the evil that is in him 
-—but both excluded. Our temperance reform workers 
fail to grasp this distinction; for if they once did they 
would pursue quite a different course in carrying on their 
work, and would cease their attempts to build righteous¬ 
ness upon the natural, unregenerate man. It is the 
shame of Christendom that much of the temperance of 
today must be classed with the “works of the flesh,” for 
it is nothing more than the product of the old nature, 
mechanically produced. And how little do our re¬ 
formers think that the men whom they are urging to “do 
such things (perform these “works of the flesh”) shall not 
inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21). They forget 
that “dead works” is a thing of which the sinner must 
sometime repent (Heb. 6:1); and that his conscience 
must first be purged from them in order to serve the liv¬ 
ing God (Heb. 9:14). Mr. Meyer says, that when he 
deals with a drunkard he is inclined to say to him, “Be a 
man;” and then describes the folly of such a course by 
saying, “What a fool I am. I am trying to cast out the 
evil of drink by the evil of self-esteem. If I want to save 
a man, I must cast out the spirit of self and substitute the 
Lord Jesus Christ—Alpha, Omega, All in All.” 

Spurgeon tells of a man who became very famous for 
painting red lions. The red lions were in great demand 
by tavern keepers who used them on their sign-boards. 
One tavern-keeper, wishing to have his place repainted, 
decided to have his sign somewhat different from those 
of other taverns, and so went to the sign painter and said, 


18 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


“I want you to paint me a sign, but it is to be an angel, 
not a red lion.” “Oh,” was the reply, “I think that you 
should allow me to have my way and let me paint you a 
red lion. You know I have a good name for them; I can 
paint a lion with any man, and a red lion is the correct 
thing for your trade, so I think you should have it for 
your sign.” The tavern-keeper, however, persisted in 
having his own way about the matter. Finally the 
painter yielded, saying, “Very well, I shall paint you an 
angel if you insist upon it, but remember, when I am 
done, it will be very like a lion.” The man who has never 
been born again can do but one kind of work—the work 
of the Devil. “A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good 
fruit.” The sinner may try to do good works—the works 
of Christ—but he will one day be chagrined to find that 
his good works are nothing more than ugly red lions. 

Is this not the meaning of “Many will say to Me in 
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy 
name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy 
name have done many wonderful works? And then will 
I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, 
ye that work iniquity?” Now prophesying, or teaching, 
in the name of Jesus is a good work. It is the work of 
the great Commission—it is painting angels. The cast¬ 
ing out of devils in the name of Jesus is a good work. 
Jesus authorized his early Apostles to do this very kind 
of work (Matt. 10:8). Doing “wonderful works” in the 
name of Jesus is a legitimate and praiseworthy employ¬ 
ment (John 14:12)—it is painting angels. Yet Jesus sees 
all these good and excellent works to be nothing more 
than “red lions,” and calls them “works of iniquity.” And 
why? Because they were performed by unregenerate 
persons, individuals to whom Jesus was compelled to pro¬ 
fess, “I never knew you.” 

A man who knows nothing of botany or the laws of 
the vegetable kingdom is not a fit servant to minister to 
the needs of plant life. He may in all good faith attempt to 
nourish the plant, yet because of his ignorance of the 
chemicals upon which the plant feeds may give it that 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


19 


which will do it a gross injury. He would make a blun¬ 
der as silly as the rich man who attempted to feed his 
soul upon the products of his field, saying, “Soul, thou 
hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, 
eat, drink and be merry.” Now any sane man knows that 
souls do not eat grain and vegetables. When a man once 
fully grasps the fact that God is a Spirit, it is not very 
long until he sees that the only acceptable worship is 
that which is rendered in “Spirit and in truth.” No man 
can determine what is acceptable to the Lord unless there 
is first a clear apprehension of His nature and person. It 
is first know the Lord, then serve Him. And this invari¬ 
ably was the early process in the making of disciples. It 
was so in the case of John, and Andrew, and Peter, and 
Nathaniel, and the ethiopian eunuch.* In each instance 
someone first gave to these men a clear statement as to 
who Jesus was and the nature of His mission; then they 
believed, then followed a life of service. 

First Question—“Who Art Thou, Lord?” 

Jesus is the Risen, LIVING One. 

Paul saw Jesus alive after His resurrection, as he de¬ 
clares, “Last of all He was seen of me also.” In fact, 
“He showed Himself alive after His passion by many in¬ 
fallible proofs, being seen of them (disciples) forty days.” 

Now His resurrection is a proof of His divinity; for 
He was “declared to be the Son of God. .. .by the resur¬ 
rection from the dead.” And His divinity distinguishes 
Him from all other religious teachers of the world, plac¬ 
ing Him in a class all by Himself. For He is not merely 
the Son of God, but the “only begotten of the Father/’ 
Besides Him, as such, there is none else. Viewed in this 
light He cannot be compared to any other. There is no 
comparison between genuine and counterfeit coins. They 
belong to two separate and distinct classes. You may 
compare a counterfeit with a counterfeit to see which is 
the better imitation, but when you attempt to compare 


* John 1: 35-37, 41, 45; Acts 8: 30-35. 





20 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


the counterfeit with the genuine you either dignify the 
counterfeit by lifting it to a class higher than that to 
which it really belongs, or else you degrade the genuine by 
lowering it to a class beneath that to which it belongs. It 
is so with the Christ. Of course, if we see nothing more 
in Jesus than a great moral teacher, and speak of Him as 
such, it is not long until we hear a voice from China say, 
“So was Confucius a great teacher;” and the classic Greek 
will reply, “And so was Socrates.” If we boast of our 
Savior as a great moral example, the Hindoos will tell us, 
“So was Buddha.” If we claim for Jesus that He came 
to reveal the will of God, the Arabs will tell us, “So did 
our Mahomet.” But claim for Jesus what He claimed for 
Himself—that He is the Son of God—speak of Him as the 
Scriptures speak of Him—that He died for our sins and 
rose again for our justification—and you silence forever 
every voice of rivalry. As teacher, and example and re- 
vealer of God’s will, He is without a peer; as the Son of 
God He is without a competitor. In the arena of His 
divinity He stands alone. 

But amidst the babel of present-day beliefs concern¬ 
ing the Christ, how are we to determine which is correct? 
What standard of judgment is there by which to judge in 
this matter? There is but one—the Bible. You cannot 
judge the correctness of anything without some accepted 
standard. A man sells you a bushel of grain. You con¬ 
tend that there is a shortage of measurement. But he 
says not. A controversy ensues. Finally you discover 
that your disagreement is due to a difference of concep¬ 
tions as to what constitutes a bushel. Now who is to 
decide your dispute? You will never come to an agree¬ 
ment unless you can first find some standard of weights 
and measurements which you both can accept. But 
where is this to be had? The government furnishes it. 
And back of the government is God, for “the powers that 
be are ordained of God.” I want to know the time of day. 
I ask a crowd of men. One tells me one thing and an¬ 
other another thing. Who is to decide which is right, 
for each person gets his time from a watch? A dispute 


PAUL’S CONVERSION • 21 

follows. Finally they see the impossibility of settling the 
controversy among themselves, so they agree to go to the 
railroad station and decide their dispute by the clock 
there. But at each station along the line there is a clock, 
and these clocks often differ a trifle. Now which one is 
correct? The time at Washington decides this. But 
how does Washington know that their time is correct? 
Washington time is governed by the solar system, for 
nothing under the heavens is reliable. This is the final, 
the infallible standard, for back of the solar system is God 
Himself. In every instance, you see, we get back to God. 

What is final authority on questions religious? The 
Catholics say the church is final authority. They forget 
that the Scriptures existed before the church. Rational¬ 
ism says Reason is final authority, and that the Scriptures 
are only authoritative so far as their declarations can be 
rationally demonstrated. But the Word of God is 
higher than man. As the heavens are higher than the 
earth, so are God’s thoughts higher than man’s thoughts. 
Natural reason can not know the things of the Spirit of 
God, because they are spiritually discerned. The only in- 
faJlible standard by which we may correctly judge any 
question is the Word of God. “Let God be true, but 
every man a liar.” God’s word must be final authority 
upon every mooted question. It is the last court of ap¬ 
peal. And here is a list we have culled of a few things 
the Word has to say in reference to the divinity of Christ: 

1. The Father affirmed it. “This is My beloved Son, 
in Whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). 

2. Jesus proclaimed it. “Tell us whether Thou be 
the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto them, 
Thou hast said” (Matt. 26:63, 64). “Jesus said, I am” 
(Mark 14:62), 

3. The angel asserted it. “That holy thing, which 
shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God” 
(Luke 1:35). 

4. John the Baptist testified to it. “And I saw and 
bare record that this is the Son of God” flohn 1 -34 N 


22 


PAUL’S CONYEESION 


5. The devils knew it. “What have we to do with 
Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God” (Matt. 8:29). 

6. The disciples were confident of it. “Of a truth 
Thou art the Son of God” (Matt. 14:33). 

7. The Roman centurion confessed it. “Truly this 
was the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54). 

8. The Eunuch believed it. “I believe that Jesus 
Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:37). 

9. Paul preached it. “He* preached Christ in the 
synagogues, that He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20). 

10. Peter confessed it. “Peter answered and said, 
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 
16:16). 

11. The Gospel is a record of Him as such. “The be¬ 
ginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” 
(Mark 1 :1). 

12. Nathaniel professed it. “Nathaniel answered and 
saith unto Him,. ..Thou art the Son of God” (John 1:49). 

13. The object of John in writing his Gospel was to 
show Him as such. “These are written that ye might be¬ 
lieve that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 
20 :31). 

14. The Holy Spirit confirmed it. “Declared to be 
the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of 
Holiness” (Rom. 1:4). 

Reader, before you discard the divinity of Christ, and 
cast away “your confidence, which hath great recompence 
of reward,” or before you set aside the authority of the 
Bible, it might be well to first take into serious considera¬ 
tion a few important questions. Have you anything bet¬ 
ter to put in its place? Will your belief that Jesus was 
only a man make Him such? Was your mother’s re¬ 
ligion only a sham? Was that deep settled peace of 
which she so often spake a delusion? Has a sham or 
falsehood ever done for the world what Christianity has? 
Bishop Whipple once met a thoughtful scholar who told 
him that tor years he had read every book he could find 
which assailed the religion of Jesus Christ, and declared 
he should have become an infidel but for three things— 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


23 


“First, I am a man. I am going somewhere. To¬ 
night I am a day nearer the grave than I was last night. 

I have read all such books can tell me. They shed not 
one solitary ray upon the darkness. They shall not take 
away the only guide, and leave me stone blind. 

“Second, I had a mother. I saw her go down into the 
dark valley where I am going, and she leaned upon an un¬ 
seen arm as calmly as a child goes to sleep on the breast 
of its mother. I know that was not a dream. 

“Third, I have three motherless daughters”—and he 
said it with tears in his eyes—“they have no protector but 
myself. I would rather kill them than leave them in this 
sinful world if you blot out from it all the teachings of 
the Gospel.” 

My skeptical young friend, you will not be in perdi¬ 
tion five minutes until you will believe all that the Bible 
teaches. If the grace of God does not have the effect of 
changing your heart in this world, the torments of hell 
will surely change your creed in the next. You will then 
believe in the divinity of Christ, the resurrection of the 
dead, and the miraculous conception of the Son of God. 
The doctrine of future punishment, which is nothing 
more than a myth to you now, will then be a terrible re¬ 
ality. You will then be one of the most orthodox beings 
in the universe. But you will be lost. 

He is Jesus the LOVING One. 

Think of the Lord loving a Saul of Tarsus, the chief 
of sinners, “a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injur¬ 
ious” person. What tenderness there is in -the Master's 
words. He does not say, “I am your judge and will 
judge you, you vicious, obstinate, ungrateful sinner.” 
No, no; he only tells Paul that it is hard for him to “kick 
against the pricks.” The simile is that of a willful ox 
kicking against the goad of its master, resulting only in 
driving the sharp thong deeper into its own flesh. He 
saith not, “It is hard for Me,” but “It is hard for thee, 
Saul. Thou art wounding thyself by thy mad career.” 

The same is true of every sinner today. He hurts 
himself more than any one else by resisting the grace and 


24 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


mercy of God. He is like the sword-fish. This curious 
creature has a long, bony beak, or sword, projecting in 
front of its head. It is very fierce. It not only attacks 
other fishes, but it has been known to dart at a ship in full 
sail. But what is the result? The silly fish kills itself by 
the force of its own blow. The old ship sails on just as 
before while the sword-fish falls a victim to its own rage. 

He is Jesus the SUFFERING One. 

Paul’s hostility was directed at the disciples. But 
what a surprise when he heard Jesus from heaven say, 
“Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” So closely are be¬ 
lievers related to Jesus that it is impossible to hurt them 
without doing Christ an injury. Jesus is the Vine; His 
people are the branches. What damages the branches 
also damages the vine. Jesus is the Head; His church is 
the body with its several members. That which hurts 
the body hurts also the Head. “When ye sin so against 
the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin 
against Christ.” 

Margaret Wilson, the maiden martyr of Scotland, 
with an aged companion was tied to the stake, out on the 
sands in the Solway Firth, where the tide in great white 
waves came rushing in. Far out they tied the aged saint, 
but Margaret near the shore, which was crowded by 
groups of weeping friends and cruel spectators. As a 
great wave dashed over her aged friend, and her death 
struggle began, Margaret’s tormenters said to her, “What 
see you yonder?” With words of faith for herself, hope 
for her companion and love for her enemies, she said, “I 
see Christ suffering in one of His own members.” Says 
Jesus, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least 
of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” 

Mr. S. D. Gordon tells a story of a boy by the name 
of Phil, who was sent to the attic for three days and three 
nights for playing truant, his meals during that period 
being taken to him. The evening of the first day when 
supper time came the father and mother sat down to eat. 
But they couldn’t eat for thinking about the boy. The 
longer they chewed upon the food the bigger it got in 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


25 


their mouths. And swallowing it was clear out of the 
question. Then they went into the sitting-room for the 
evening. He picked up the evening paper to read, and 
she sat down to sew. His eyes were not very good. He 
wore glasses. And this evening he couldn’t see distinctly. 
The glasses seemed blurred. It must have been the 
glasses. So he took them off and cleaned them carefully, 
and then found he had been holding the paper upside 
down. And she tried to sew. But the thread broke. 
And she couldn’t seem to get the needle threaded again. 
You could see they were both bothered. By and by the 
clock struck nine, and then ten, their usual hour for re¬ 
tiring. But they made no move toward retiring. She 
said, “Aren’t you going to bed?” and he said, “I think I’ll 
not go yet; you go.” “No, I guess I’ll wait a bit.” And 
the clock struck eleven, and the hands worked around to¬ 
ward twelve. Then they arose and went to bed. But 
not to sleep. Each one made pretence to be asleep, and 
each knew the other was not asleep. And she said, 
“Why don’t you sleep?” And the clock in the hall struck 
twelve, and one, and two. Still sleep did not come. At 
last he said, “Mother, I can’t stand this any longer. I’m 
going up stairs to Phil.” And he took his pillow and 
went softly out of the room, and up the attic stairs, and 
pressed the latch very softly so as not to awake the boy if 
he were asleep, and tiptoed across the attic floor to the 
corner by the window and there Phil lay—wide awake, 
with something glistening in his eyes, and what looked 
like stains on his cheeks. And the father got down be¬ 
tween the sheets with his boy, and their tears mixed upon 
each others cheeks. Then they slept. This was done for 
three nights. You fathers will know just about what 
such an experience means. Yet this is a faint picture of 
what the Lord feels when His children are made to suffer. 

Second Question—“What Wilt Thou Have Me to Do?” 

What a sweeping question. Every word seems to 
be pregnant with wondrous meaning. It is interesting to 
take some of the great verses of the Bible and analyze 



26 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


them word by word. This is particularly true of this 
question. 

“WHAT?” 

Paul was now without orders. He had dropped his 
commission from the high priests, and is now willing for 
new instructions. He had made such a shameful blunder 
of his life that he is ready to take orders from another 
source. He has thrown off every old claim. He is a free 
man. He has no pledges to make good, no horrible oaths 
to fulfill. He has cut himself loose from every entangle¬ 
ment, so that he is perfectly free to take any orders that 
might be given. Anything that Jesus might tell him to 
do would not conflict with any obligation he owed to an¬ 
other. He knows that Jesus will not accept a lien on a 
life that is already mortgaged. And, see, he makes no 
choice in the matter. He does not dictate. He states no 
conditions upon which he will accept orders. He yields 
everything. All he asks is to know “what” Jesus would 
have him to do. 

“What?” Not something else. He makes no at¬ 
tempt to substitute some other service for Jesus’ “what.” 
Saul, the first king of Israel, was told to smite Amalek, 
and utterly destroy all that he had. Instead of doing 
what he was told to do, he made an offering to the Lord 
of the best of the spoils. The thing displeased the Lord. 
No other service, however good, can fill the place of the 
Lord’s “what.” 

Several year’s since the writer listened to a minister 
preach on “This do in remembrance of Me.” He placed 
special emphasis on the first word—“This.” Said he, “One 
will say, T will give you so much for missions.’ That is 
good, but ‘This do.’ Another may say, ‘I will send my 
children to Sunday-school.’ All this is good enough, but 
that is not what He tells you to do. ‘This do.’ Or some 
will say, ‘I will help make up a donation for the poor in 
some far off mission on the frontier.’ That is excellent, 
but it can not take the place of the command, ‘This do.’ ” 

“What?” No matter whether reasonable or seem¬ 
ingly unreasonable. At the marriage feast in Cana of 




PAUL’S CONVERSION 


27 


Galilee the mother of Jesus said to the servants, “What¬ 
soever He saith unto you, do it.” Jesus then told the ser¬ 
vants to fill the water pots with water. These pots of 
water were intended for bathing purposes. A Jew would 
not eat a meal without first washing. But, see, the 
guests had all arrived, had been washed or purified, and 
had taken their place at the feast. There seemed no 
longer to be any need for water. What they needed was 
wine. How unreasonable the command of Jesus seemed 
to be. Might the servants not have said, “Master, are 
you not mistaken? Is it not wine that you want and not 
water?” Naaman was told to dip himself seven times in 
the Jordan. What a strange command, when Abana and 
Pharper, rivers of Damascus, were so much better than 
the muddy Jordan. The ten lepers were told by Christ 
to go and show themselves to the priest. Might they not 
have said, “Master, it was the priest who pronounced us 
lepers and by reason of whose decision we are compelled 
to take up our abode outside the gates of the city. Why 
send us back again to him?” The clay and spittle with 
which Jesus anointed the eyes of the blind man seemed 
sufficient to cause a seeing person to go blind. The blind 
man might have said, “Master, how can this possibly help 
me? If there are any chances of getting back my sight, 
surely this will destroy those chances.” 

There is nothing unreasonable in the demands of the 
Lord. The end, in every instance, justifies the means. 
The trouble is that we mistake that which is above rea¬ 
son as being unreasonable. There is a vast difference be¬ 
tween the two. Because we cannot fathom the purposes 
of God back of His doings that does not say they are ab¬ 
surd or irrational. A lady once asked the Lord how she 
might show her love, when she seemed to hear a voice 
say, “Go at once and take Sarah a pound of candles.” 
Sarah was a poor old woman living in an attic, whom this 
lady sometimes helped. She did not go at first, for 
candles seemed a strange thing to take; meat or butter 
would be more sensible, she thought. Yet at last she 
went with her candles and some food in a basket out into 






28 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


the dark night to poor Sarah’s attic-room. “What 
brought you here at this hour?” Sarah asked in surprise. 
“First you tell me what you have been praying for?” said 
the lady. “Well, you will think it strange, but I was ask¬ 
ing the Lord to send me a candle, so I could read in this 
big print Bible which a neighbor has lent me.” 

“ Blind unbelief is sure to err, 

And scan His works in vain; 

God is His own interpreter; 

And He will make it plain. 

‘‘Deep in unfathomable mines 
Of never-failing skill, 

He treasures up His bright designs, 

And works His sovereign will.” 

“What?” Whether pleasant or unpleasant, it mat¬ 
tered not. It was a pleasant privilege to sit down at the 
wedding feast in Cana and partake of a sumptuous repast 
of the most delicate luxuries, but the “Whatsoever” of 
Christ’s command took the servants away from the feast 
and put them to the unpleasant drudgery of carrying- 
water. The kind master of the slave of Aesop gave him 
a bitter melon and desired him to eat it. The slave ate it 
without making a wry face over it. His master expressed 
surprise at this. “What!” answered the servant pleas¬ 
antly, “have I received so many favors from you, and 
cannot I manage to eat a bitter melon without making a 
fuss about it?” 

How many of us would be ready, like Paul, to turn 
over our lives to Jesus with the “What” of duty left 
blank, and allow Him to fill it in as He might see fit? 
Such a course would work wonders in the lives of many 
of His children. Not a few would discover for the first 
time how widely their life varied from the divine plan. 

“What WILT?” 

Paul does not say, “What does Thy law require me to 
do?” but “What wilt Thou have me to do?” There is a 
vast difference between God’s law and God’s will. A 
public school teacher may post a list of rules on the wall 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


29 


of the school room. Those rules are the law of the school. 
But there are a hundred and one little things in which the 
scholars may please the teacher that are not mentioned in 
the rules. These constitute the teacher’s will. A scholar 
may even keep the rules of the school to the letter and yet 
be a desperately bad child and wound the feelings of the 
weary teacher by a breach of her will every hour of the 
day. The law speaks of duty; His will of privilege. The 
child of the law spends his time in trying to find out how 
little he can do and still not displease Him. The life 
lived in the will of God sees how much it can do to please 
Him. 

The will of God must be performed in a willing man¬ 
ner in order to be perfect and acceptable. There is a 
wonderful story told of an aged saint. She was ill, away 
from home and given up to die. One day she prayed. 
“Lord, it is dreadful to die here in a hotel and have to be 
carried home in a casket.” A voice whispered, “If it 
were my will that you should die here, could you sub¬ 
mit?” She answered, “Oh, no, I want to go home.” 
Then, seeing she was dishonoring the Lord, she said. 
“But, Lord, if Thou wilt be submission in me, I will sub¬ 
mit.” Soon a sweet peace came, a sense of utter sub¬ 
mission, and she said, “Lord, I s do sumbit.” Then He 
whispered, “Thou hast submitted, art thou willing?” 
“Oh, no. I am not willing.” Then waiting a little, she 
added, “If Thou wilt be willingness in me, I will be will¬ 
ing.” As she lay still, a perfect willingness to die came, 
and she said, “Lord, I am willing.” Again the voice said, 
“Thou hast submitted and art willing, but art thou 
satisfied to come to Me?” She waited, and soon an in¬ 
tense desire came to be with Jesus, and she said, “Lord. 
Thou hast become my satisfaction and I desire to go.” 
Once more He spoke, “My child, thou hast submitted, 
thou art willing, thou art satisfied, art thou delighted to 
come?” “No, Lord, I am satisfied with Thy will, but I 
cannot say I delight in it.” Then waiting for a moment 
and looking up, she said, “But Thou canst be everything 
in me, be Thou my delight.” Soon there came such an 



30 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


ecstacy of joy that she cried out, “Blessed Lord, I delight 
to do Thy will, whatever it may be. I do delight to go 
to Thee just now.” Then she waited, expecting her 
spirit to take its flight to God. But a voice whispered, 
“I want to make thee well and have thee go home.” 
Reader, do you delight to do His will? Do you “glory in 
tribulations?” 

“O blessed Redeemer: 

Thou who hast died for me; 

Whatever Thy will may be, dear Lord, 

I’ll gladly follow Thee.” 

“What Wilt THOU?” 

Before the Apostle’s conversion he girded himself 
and walked whither he would, but now another girds him 
and tells him where to walk. Once he lived for self, 
now for him to “live is Christ.” Once he claimed his 
life as his personal possession, now he says he is not his 
own, that he has been bought with a price. Once he ac¬ 
knowledged no owner, now he concedes every claim of 
Jesus as his master. 

The Hebrews had a very strange custom of servitude.* 
Under this custom a man had a right to sell his services 
to another for a period of six years. After that period he 
was again entirely free. On the first morning of the 
seventh year the good-bye words were spoken between 
master and servant. But if or- that first morning of the 
seventh year that servant felt a reluctance of leaving. If 
he did not desire to break up the happy relationship that 
had existed for six long years. If he said to his master, 
“I love you. I love you dearly. I love your family. I 
love your home. I cannot leave you. Our associations 
have been too dear to sever. I want to serve you for¬ 
ever.” The master would then take him before the 
judges of the city and have them witness his declarations 
of allegiance. After that he would take him to his home 
and stand him up against the jamming of the door and 
pierce the lobe of his ear through with an awl. These 
ear-marks said that he belonged to his master for ever. 


* Exodus 21:2-6; Eeviticus 25: 39-43; Deuteronomy 15: 12-18. 





PAUL’S CONVEKSION 


31 


Some of us have been in Christ’s service for not only 
six years, but twice six years, and longer. We have 
learned to love our Master during those years. We have 
learned to love His family, the church. We have become 
attached to his house, the place of communion and wor¬ 
ship. And still many of us do not yet bear the ear-marks 
of consecration. Our allegiance is only temporary. We 
serve Him on a kind of a probation basis. We keep a 
string on what we have consecrated. We are not fully 
decided. If anything transpires that does not suit us we 
hold ourselves in readiness to break off at any moment. 
Surely we know enough of the delights of His service to 
make our consecration for time and eternity. Accept, 
then, the ear-marks of service. Say with Ruth, “Whither 
thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will 
lodge ; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my 
God; where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be 
buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but 
death part thee and me.” 

“I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou 
Shouldst lead me on; 

I loved to choose and see my path; but now 
Lead Thou me on.” 

“What Wilt Thou HAVE?” 

The work of surrender and consecration seems to 
deepen. Here is expressed a readiness to turn over any 
or everything to the Lord. It is saying to the Lord, as 
Ahab said to king Benhadad, “My lord, O King, accord¬ 
ing to thy saying, I am thine and all that I have.” Dr. 
Chapman once asked General Booth, of the Salvation 
Army, the secret of his success. The old warrior an¬ 
swered, “God has had all there was of me.” The same 
secret of success was explained in other words by Flor¬ 
ence Nightingale, when she said, “I have never refused 
God anything.” 

“In loving consecration, 

Lord, let me bring my heart; 

All its affections shall be Thine, 

None else shall share a part. 





32 


PAUL'S CONVERSION 


“All of my life I pledge Thee, 

All of my ransomed poweis, 

All of my service and my love . 

All of my days and hours. 

“Nothing shall be witholden 
Nothing will I recall 
All shall be on the altar laid 
Jesus shall have it all.” 

But you say, “I did consecrate myself to the Lord; I 
gave myself and all to Him when I was converted.” Pos¬ 
sibly you did, but it was the surrender of a rebel laying 
down his arms of rebellion. But now He wants you to 
yield yourself to Him as a loyal subject of His kingdom 
for strenuous Christian service. As a sinner you gave 
your bad things to Him; but now you are expected to 
give Him the good things of a redeemed life. The first 
chapter of John records the call of John, and Andrew, and 
Peter, and their responses. It was their first call. It was 
a call to discipleship. In the fourth chapter of Matthew 
there is a record of a second call to these same men. This 
was a call to service, the work of fishers of men. 

“What Wilt Thou Plave ME?” 

A fully consecrated soul does not do his work by 
proxy. He does not employ a substitute for that which 
the Lord wants him to do. He does not say to the 
Master, as Peter did concerning John, “Lord, and what 
shall this man (John) do?” He does not deputize an¬ 
other to run an errand that the Lord wants him to run. 
He does not delegate to someone else a task that the Lord 
desires him to perform. A little child said to its mother, 
“Will you sit with me, ma, until I get to sleep?” The 
mother answered, “The angels will watch over you, my 
child.” “Well, ma,” said the child, “I don’t think you 
ought to bother the angels to take care of your children.” 

“What Wilt Thou Have Me TO DO?” 

Not promise, but do. Not pledge, but perform. Not 
plan, but execute. Of Dorcas it is said, “She was full of 
good works which she did;” not what she intended to do. 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


33 


The place of torment is said to be paved with good inten¬ 
tions. 

Fellow Christian, have you ever truly and sincerely said 
to the Lord, “What wilt Thou have me to do?” If not, 
may be you have never had a full and satisfactory answer 
to the first question—“Who art Thou, Lord?” If you 
once really and fully knew the Lord there would be noth¬ 
ing but what you would be willing to do for Him. The 
depth and richness of your knowledge of Christ will 
determine the extent and fulness of your consecra¬ 
tion. What you know of Him will govern the amount of 
work you will do for Him. If your Christian experience 
is shallow, your service will have no depth. If He is no 
more than a man to you, there will be little trust in His 
blood. If yours is a Judas-like knowledge, yours also 
will be a Judas-like consecration. 

What you know of Christ is the test, 

That decides how much you will do; 

For you’ll never give Him your best, 

Unless He’s familiar to you. 

If Jesus you once apprehend; 

If His free salvation you know, 

Upon His great work you ’ll attend, 

And on His glad errands you’ll go. 

If He’s but a man at the most, 

And not the divine Son of God; 

You cannot feel wretched and lost; 

Nor dare you confide in His blood. 

If Judas-like knowledge be yours; 

If you’re but a mere outward show, 

’Twill be but a few fleeting hours 
Till the way of traitors you’ll go. 


THE COUPLET OF OPERATIONS 


“And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into 
Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things 
which are appointed for thee to do. “—Acts 22:10. 

“And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, 
named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision,. . . 
Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and 
inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul. “— 
Acts 9:10, 11. 



HERE is more than merely a tinge of the super¬ 


natural in the manner in which the visions of God 


flash upon men in duplicates or couplets. The 
Lord appeared to Paul and directed him to Ananias. Paul 
even had a vision of Ananias coming in and putting his 
hands upon him that he might receive his sight (Acts 
9:12). But this is only one part of the couplet. The 
Lord appeared to Ananias also, and at about the same 
time at which he appeared to Paul, with a view of pre¬ 
paring him to meet the now humble and penitent perse¬ 
cutor. Ananias hesitated to meet Saul, for he had heard 
by many how much evil he had done and how he had au¬ 
thority from the chief priests to bind all that called upon 
the name of the Lord. But the same God who humbled 
Saul and prepared him to meet Ananias, also prepared a 
timid, trembling Ananias to meet Saul. 

This illustration of the Lord’s dual operations, taken 
from the life of Paul, is by no means the only one. The 
Bible abounds with such instances. The Lord appeared 
to Cornelius, a Gentile centurion, and told him to send to 
Joppa for Peter who was to tell him words by which he 
and all his house should be saved. Now Peter was a nar¬ 
row, bigoted Jew and could conceive of salvation for Jews 
only. But before the messengers from the home of Cor- 




PAUL’S CONVERSION 35 

nelius had reached Joppa the Lord had appeared to Peter 
in the vision of the sheet, thus preparing him to receive 
and preach a gospel sermon to Cornelius and the little 
Gentile congregation that had met in his house. The 
God who commanded Elijah to go to the brook Cherith 
also “commanded the ravens” to feed him there (I Kings 
17:3, 4). The God who commanded the prophet to go 
to Zarephath also “commanded” the widow woman to 
sustain him there (I Kings 17:9). The Lord always 
works at both ends. 

A person may well question the genuineness of any 
inward prompting if there are no corresponding prompt¬ 
ings at the other end of the line. A woman once went to 
a Christian worker and said, “The Holy Ghost has sent 
me to you for $10.00.” The worker replied, “Sister, I 
guess there must be some doubt about this.” “No, I am 
sure the Holy Ghost sent me,” she continued. “It can¬ 
not be true,” replied the other, “because I have not the 
$10.00 and the Holy Ghost knows it.” 

At one time the work in which Mr. Moody was en¬ 
gaged suffered for want of funds. He needed about $400. 
He had a little money in his pocket. He took the train 
and told the conductor to take him as far as his money 
would carry him. The conductor consented. After 
travelling some distance the conductor stopped the train 
and said, “Now get off here.” He was left off at the sta¬ 
tion of a little country town. He stepped out on the 
platform and presently a stranger walked up to him and 
said, “Are you Mr. Moody, the evangelist?” “That is 
what they call me,” replied Moody. Then said the 
stranger, “I have been impressed to give something to 
your work, and have here $400 which I would like to give 
you.” The amount was exactly what Mr. Moody needed. 
We marvel at this. But why marvel? If God can make 
an Elijah and a raven to understand His will, why not a 
Moody and a prosperous farmer? 

Is not the mind of man open to evil suggestions? 
Why, then, not to the good? Is our inner consciousness 
wholly at the mercies of the Devil? Has Satan the power 


36 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


to fill our hearts “to lie” (Acts 5:3), and is the Holy 
Ghost utterly impotent in leading us “into all truth?” If 
the Devil, the lesser power, can communicate to us his 
will, why should it be thought a thing incredible for God, 
the greater power, to do the same? Have the words “the 
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,” 
a modern application? If so, upon what law of interpre¬ 
tation can we say that the words, “for it is God that 
worketh in you, both to will and to do of His own good 
pleasure,” are void of such a present-day application? 

When God lays the burden of a duty upon a man’s 
heart, he should allow nothing to daunt him in its per¬ 
formance. Very often the consequences hinging upon 
the execution of such a task are terribly momentous, as 
well as eternal. A minister was walking down the streets 
of a city in Illinois with another pastor, when suddenly 
he stopped and said: “I think I ought to go and see a 
certain man this afternoon for I have had him in mind all 
day, but then,” he added with a smile, “I don’t see why I 
should go; the man never comes to church, and seems 
very indifferent. His wife is a member of my church, 
but he never attends and cares nothing for religious 
things. I have no doubt that he would repulse me if I 
were to mention the subject to him, and yet I feel I ought 
to go.” They walked a few more blocks when the min¬ 
ister stopped again and said: “Can’t get that man’s face 
out of my mind. What would you do about it?” The 
other minister replied: “I believe that whenever God 
gives a message for another, he purposes that other to re¬ 
ceive it. If I were you, I’d go.” The pastor turned back 
and soon reached the house of the rich banker. The door 
was opened almost instantaneously with his ringing of 
the bell, and there stood the banker, with pale cheeks 
and tear-dimmed eyes. He grasped the pastor’s hand, 
exclaiming, “I’m so glad you have come. I had an awful 
night last night. I could not sleep at all, and today I 
have been afraid to leave the house for fear you might 
come and I should miss you. I want you to tell me how 
I might be saved.” In the richly furnished parlor they 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 37 

knelt, the pastor on one side of the seeking soul, and the 
Christian wife on the other side. In a short time the 
man was sa\ ed. A month later the banker lay dying, 
ide had no fear for he was ready to go. With faith strong 
and clear he said to his pastor, “Oh, what if you had not 
come to me that night? God had prepared me to hear 
his message from your lips, and to Him be all the glory 
that I am dying a saved man.” Friends, if God moves 
you to speak to a soul, He has doubtless moved that soul 
to welcome your approach. 

Philippe Spievacque, a missionary among the Tews of 
Brooklyn, each morning in his family devotions lays the 
work of the day before the Lord for Divine guidance. 
One morning he seemed directed to Ellis Island, to visit 
the immigrants who were kept there for deportation. This 
was a new, unusual experience. However, without any 
hesitation he obeyed what seemed to him to be a voice 
from heaven. An hour later he presented his card at the 
gate, where he boarded a boat for Ellis Island. Without 
one word, the officer gave him admittance. While on the 
way his mind was continually wondering what could be 
there in store for him. Should any one on board have 
asked him what kind of business he had on Ellis Island, 
he could only have answered, “None, until it shall be 
shown unto me.” Every man and woman on board had 
some relative or friend to welcome to this country. Every 
one had in hand a letter or a telegram from the one that 
was coming to hasten to Ellis Island to meet them, while 
he had no telegram, no letter, but simply the wireless 
message of the Lord. But as he was making his way to 
the Bureau of Information, his eyes were directed to a 
window on the first floor. Looking up he saw a young 
man beckoning him to come nearer. He seemed to be in 
a fearfully excited state. As he approached him, the man 
began calling: “Yes, you are the man; you are coming 
to save me, are you not?” He asked him for his name. 
He replied: “My name is Jankel Wolf. I have escaped 
from the seat of war in the Far East, and now as I have 
nobody in this country to come for me, they (the officials 


38 


PAUL’S CONVEESION 


of the Immigration Bureau)have decided to send me back 
to Russia. Woe is unto me! I am a lost man. They 
will shoot me. I have a poor old father and mother at 
home and they know not where I am now, and my poor 
wife and dear child will have to die from grief. When in 
Liverpool, a missionary came on ship and distributed 
literature freely, and also Yiddish books. He was not a 
Jew at all. During the voyage I have read the Book and 
there I found that all things can be obtained if asked of 
God in the name of Jeshush Hamushiach (Jesus Christ), 
and I decided to ask God to save me from the hands of the 
Russian government. Early this morning I dreamed 
that I saw a man coming in the name of Jeshush Hamu¬ 
shiach to save me; he looked in my dream like you. Tell 
me, please, if you are coming to save me; for as soon as 
I shall hear from your lips that you are the messenger of 
God I will confess Jeshush Hamushiach as my Lord and 
Savior.” Who is ready to say that God did not direct 
that Jewish missionary that morning to Ellis Island? 
Who is ready to say the dream of that Russian Hebrew 
immigrant was not of the Lord? 


injmrLruTJTJvruvrmruTjTrmjT^ 

THE COUPLET OF ELEMENTS 


"1 


“Suddenly there shone from heaven a great light 
round about me, and I fell unto the ground, and heard 
a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul. M —Acts 22:6, 7. 

“They led him by the hand and brought him into 
Damascus. And Ananias. . .putting his hands on him 
said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus,..hath sent me 
that thou mightest receive thy sight. ,} —Acts 9:8, 17. 


r uxr^ruTrunjTJiJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJvrLrmrLnjij^ ixirb 


T HE conversion of Paul was not brought about en¬ 
tirely by the Lord; man also had a share in the 
work. It is true, the Lord sent the great light 
from heaven that “shined round about himthe Lord 
smote him to the earth; the Lord made a revelation of 
Himself to the bitter persecutor; the Lord directed him 
to the city of Damascus, and the Lord prepared Ananias 
to receive him; but, on the other hand, man led him by 
the hand into Damascus; man instructed him; man was 
the agent in the imposition of hands; man baptized him 
and man set meat before him. And into every conver¬ 
sion these two elements—the Divine and the human—are 
interwoven. Someone has said, “Christ alone saves, but 
Christ does not save alone.” 

In a conversation between Jesus and His disciples 
in reference to the cause of a young man’s blindness, a 
record of which is found in the ninth chapter of John, the 
Master gives utterance to these words: “I must work 
the works of Him that sent Me,” and then He proceeds to 
restore the sight of the blind. The Revised Version 
makes Jesus to say, “We must work.” As much as to 
say, “I must work and you must work; we all must 
work.” This brings the disciple into partnership with his 
Lord in the restoration of the sight of the blind. 

This truth is further emphasized by the singular and 
unusual means employed by the Master in bringing 




40 


PAUL'S CONVERSION 


back the man’s sight. “He spat on the ground and made 
clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind 
man with the clay.” Now the spittle was Jesus’ contri¬ 
bution in the preparation of that peculiar remedy. So the 
spittle may be said to represent Christ. The spittle was 
added to the clay. Now man was made of clay or the 
dust of the earth, hence the clay may be said to represent 
man. So Jesus takes the spittle, which represents Himself, 
and the clay, which represents man, and with the combi¬ 
nation of these two elements he restores the sight of the 
blind. He is doing the same thing today with those who 
are spiritually blind. 

And note, that Jesus in preparing His strange oint¬ 
ment for the eyes of the blind did not apply the clay to 
the spittle, but the spittle to the clay. In other words, it 
seemed it was the spittle that somehow gave virtue to the 
clay, and not the clay that gave virtue to the spittle. Our 
poor, feeble efforts can add no merit to the atoning work 
of Christ, but Christ’s work adds wonders to the be¬ 
liever’s wretchedly weak and feeble efforts. 

Great care must be exercised lest we exalt the human 
element above the Divine. The human has its place, but 
it must never be allowed to supplant the Divine. It is 
said, “We are laborers together with God;” but we must 
remember that while Paul may plant, and Apollos water, 
that it is after all God who giveth the increase. “So 
neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that 
watereth, but God that giveth the increase.” 

The battle-cry of the Lord’s host under the leader¬ 
ship of Gideon was: “The sword of the Lord and of 
Gideon.” The cry was not, The sword of Gideon. That 
would ignore the Lord. Nor was it, The sword of the 
Lord. That would eliminate man. Neither was it, The 
sword of Gideon and the Lord. That would put man be¬ 
fore the Lord. But the cry was, “The sword of the Lord 
and of Gideon.” 

Of all the conversions of which you know, can you 
think of a single one in which man in no sense whatever 
played a part? God has so formulated His plans for the 


PAUL’S CONVEKSION 


41 


redemption of man as to make man an essential factor 
in the carrying out of those plans. “The eye cannot say 
unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head 
to the feet, I have no need of you.” Now the head of the 
body is Christ. The feet are members of the body, and ' 
the body represents the church. Again, the eyes are a 
part of the head which represents Christ, and the hands 
are a part of the body which represents the church. So 
Christ, the head of the body, cannot say to any member 
of the body (the church), “I have no need of you.” He 
needs the strong hands and the swift feet of His body to 
carry his burdens and run His errands. But He will not 
despise the weak and the frail. “Yea, much more those 
members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are 
necessary.” O thou faltering, trembling one, He must 
have thee, too, in order to complete His body and finish 
His work. 

Let us cull here a thought from another pen, clothing 
it somewhat in our own language. What must have been 
the scene when Jesus went back again into heaven! The 
last the earth saw of Him was just before the cloud re¬ 
ceived Him out of their sight. And the world has not 
seen Him since, yet some of us are simple enough to be¬ 
lieve that some day He will come back again in the clouds 
of heaven just as He went away, and possibly the time 
of His return is not far distant. 

But have you ever imagined what might have taken 
place on the heaven side of that cloud? He was down 
here on the earth for a little over thirty years. It was a 
long absence for heaven. The eyes of the inhabitants up 
there were fairly hungry for a look again of that blessed 
face. I can almost see them as they crowd down to the 
place where they may get the first glimpse of Him. I 
wonder if the Father did not come first to greet Him and 
kiss that thorn-scarred brow and those nail-marked hands 
and feet. Parents, would you not do something like 
that on the return of a shamefully abused child of yours? 

But after the first burst of feeling has somewhat sub¬ 
sided and matters have settled back to their normal state, 


42 


PAUL'S CONVERSION 


I fancy I see angel Gabriel walking down the golden 
streets, arm in arm with the Master, talking intently 
about the things that had just transpired upon the face 
of mother earth. Gabriel seems to say, “Master, you died 
• for the whole world down there, did you no??” “Yes,” 
says the Master, “for the whole world.” And with an 
earnest look into that Calvary marked face, Gabriel adds, 
“You must have suffered very much.” “Yes, very, very 
much,” says Jesus. And does the whole world know 
about it?” Gabriel continues. “Oh, no! Only a few in 
Palestine.” “Well, Master, what’s your plan for getting 
the news abroad? What have you done in the way of 
having the world told that you died for them?” The 
Master is supposed to answer, “I asked Peter, and James 
and John, and Andrew and Matthew and Mark, and a few 
others, to make it the business of their lives to tell others, 
and the others to tell others, and the others others and 
still others others, until the last man in the world knows 
it.” But Gabriel seems to know something about us peo¬ 
ple down here. He has had some experience with the in¬ 
habitants of the earth. He knows the kind of material 
of which we are made, hence he seems to see a few diffi¬ 
culties in the working out of the Master’s plan. And 
with a kind of a hesitancy or modest reluctance he says, 
“But, Master, suppose Peter fails. Suppose after a while 
John fails to tell others, and suppose that those others 
who have been told get busy with the trifling things of 
earth—pleasure seeking and the accumulation of fortunes 
—and forget to tell the others. What then?” Then those 
tender eyes of Jesus grow big with earnestness. He 
thinks of the greatness of His sufferings for those who 
have been told and the great loss to those who would not 
be told in case of such a failure and He says, “What then? 
Why I haven’t made any other plans. I have taken those 
men into partnership with Myself in this great work and 
f am counting on them. They dare not fail.” 

The Holy Spirit came down from heaven for the 
specific purpose of communicating and making known 
to men what Jesus had done for them. But the Spirit 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


43 


can not do this work alone. He must have a body 
through which to perform His mission. Jesus could say 
of Himself, “A body hast thou prepared me.” But 
the Holy Spirit has no body of His own. The body in¬ 
tended for His habitation is the church, the body of 
Christ. Referring to His body Jesus could say, “Destroy 
this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” But the 
Holy Spirit has no temple of His own in which to dwell. 
Your “body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,” the “habi¬ 
tation of God through the Spirit.” And it is through this 
union that the cause of the Lord is carried on. 

It is impossible—and we say it reverently—for the 
Spirit to make known directly to the sinner the things of 
Christ. “The natural man receiveth not the things of 
the Spirit of God.” Like the dove sent forth from the 
Ark, there is nothing sufficiently pure in the natural 
heart to serve as a resting place for the Spirit. It is the 
Spirit “Whom the world cannot receive,” as Jesus de¬ 
clared. But with the cleansed heart of the believer it is 
different. Says Jesus, “I will send Him unto you (tjie 
believer), and when He is come (to you) He will reprove 
the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment to 
come.” Go through your Bible, and note each instance 
carefully, and you will be surprised to find that when 
God had a message for the outside world, that He always 
delivered that message through men who were wholly 
given over to Him. He made no direct communications 
to men of the world. 

The Holy ^Spirit must be embodied to perform His 
mission. He must have the believer’s personality as a 
human channel through which to do His work. It is 
said to be a law of spirit life to embody itself in dealing 
with embodied beings. Devils clothed themselves with 
men’s bodies in order to accomplish their hellish work. 
How often we read of men being “possessed of devils.” 
And this is the law to which the Lord conforms in 
His dealings with men. And let me say it with all can¬ 
dor, the Holy Spirit cannot reach the sinner, only as he 
succeeds in clothing Himself with the believer’s person- 


44 


PAUL'S CONVERSION 


ality. Those are wonderful words in the sixth chapter 
and thirty-fourth verse of the book of the Judges—‘‘the 
Spirit of God came upon Gideon.” Now the marginal 
reading of the Revised Version puts it something like 
this: “The Spirit of God clothed Himself with Gideon.” 
God’s Spirit put on the personality of Gideon similar to 
the manner in which we put on a garment, and thus a 
splendid victory was won. He is seeking, dear believer, 
to clothe Himself with you, that He might accomplish 
His office work in the winning of men to Christ. 

Dr. Lorimer once told of a young girl by the name of 
Mary in one of his missions who died, and to whose 
funeral he was called. He had never seen the girl. He 
asked the pastor of the mission, “Was Mary a Christian?” 
“Really, I don’t know. I thought some time ago I ought 
io have a little talk with her, but somehow I didn’t get to 
it.” He went to the superintendent and asked him. It 
was the same story. He had felt impressed to speak to 
Mary, but somehow he had put it off. He went to the 
teacher, and he said: “The last few weeks I have been 
feeling I must have a talk with Mary—she was on my 
heart constantly; but somehow I didn’t get about it. I 
don’t know.” Then he went to the mother and said, 
“Was Mary a Christian?” The mother burst into tears. 
She said: “Doctor, I haven’t had a plain talk with Mary 
about the matter. For the last week I have been feeling 
strongly that I ought to talk with her. It seemed a kind 
of burden upon me; but I thought she was going to be 
better, and I put it off and now she is gone.” Think of it 
friends, the Holy Spirit was making a strenuous effort to 
clothe Himself with each one of those four different per¬ 
sons with a view of reaching that lost soul, and yet failed. 
And the thing that adds solemnity to the matter is the 
fact that all four of those individuals had pledged them¬ 
selves in one way or the other for that very kind of work. 
Three of them were officials of the church and one her 
own mother. Brother, have you turned over your per¬ 
sonality to Him? Sister, has He attempted to use you 
and failed? 


UTrijTJTriJTJTJT.n-njTrinjTrLrijTRjTJiJT^ 

THE COUPLET OF HEAVENLY FORCES 


“I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the 
brightness of the sun, shining round about me. ’ ’—Acts 
26:13. 

“I heard a voice speaking unto me.”—Acts 26:14. 

rmjTJTJxnjTJTJinjT^^ 


T HERE were two harmonious and heavenly forces 
that entered into that Damascus road miracle, 
namely: the light from heaven and the voice from 
heaven. Now the light, without doubt, was the divine 
lustre of the presence of the glorified Christ and may be 
accepted as representing any spiritual illumination. The 
voice, of course, represents the Lord’s word, the law of 
man’s conduct, the inflexible standard of right and wrong. 
And these two forces are the guiding factors in the lives 
of men. As David says, “Send out Thy light and Thy 
truth; let them lead me” (Ps. 43:3). 

The light has been associated with the Shekinah, that 
ancient symbol of the Divine presence. And it is signifi¬ 
cant that with every manifestation of the Divine presence 
there is also associated in some way the voice or word of 
the Lord. And what the one emphasizes the other in- 
varibly endorses; what the one states the other corrobo¬ 
rates ; what the one testifies the other confirms. 

Take the flaming sword of Eden and we have God 
speaking in consultation with the Trinity and decreeing 
what the flaming sword shortly afterward executed (Gen. 
3:22). Take Abraham’s burning lamp that passed with 
the smoking furnace between his sacrifice and you have a 
confirmation, in symbol, of what God by His word had 
just made known to him (Gen. 15:13-17). Take the 
burning bush beheld by Moses and you have God calling 
“unto him out of the midst of the bush,” confirming to 
him by His word the very things that the burning bush 




46 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


prefigured (Ex. 3:4). Take the “pillar of fire” 
that led the Israelites in their journey through 
the wilderness and the Scriptures not only go 
so far as to associate it with the word of the 
Lord, but actually call it the “commandment of 
the Lord” (Num. 9:18). Take the fire that consumed 
the sacrificial offerings and with it you have the voice 
of the Lord communing with the priest (Ex. 29:42). 
Take the glory of the Lord witnessed by Ezekiel and with 
it is “heard the voice of one that spake” (Ezek. 1 :28). 
With the “glory of the Lord that shone round about” the 
shepherds of Bethlehem is the word of the Lord by the 
lips of the angel (Luke 2:10). With the radiance of the 
transfiguration is the voice from the excellent glory 
(II Peter 1:17). With the tongues of fire of Pentecost is 
the word of the Lord by the prophet Joel. See how ten¬ 
aciously the light follows the word, and how faithfully 
the word keeps company with the light. 

If a man comes to you claiming to have a divine reve¬ 
lation, kindly ask him for the portion of the old Book 
upon which his new revelation is founded. Test every mod¬ 
ern spiritual illumination and settle every question of 
faith, by that word that is “forever settled in heaven.” 
Light that does not harmonize with God’s word does not 
emanate from God. And make sure that the word is 
rightly interpreted. Some years ago a man by the name 
of A. G. Garr received in Los Angeles, California, what 
he was pleased to call his “Pentecost” and “tongues.” 
Soon it was revealed to him that his strange tongue was 
for India and that he was to go there to exercise it, and 
so he went. But, strange to say, they could not under¬ 
stand his jabbering over there in India. They failed to 
hear him in the language in which they were born, a 
thing that was true of the Pentecost of old. Mr. Garr, 
however, was not discouraged, for he read in his Bible of 
how some spake in an “unknown” tongue. He then de¬ 
cided that his was an “unknown” tongue. What folly. 
What nonsense. If my reader will turn to the fourteenth 
chapter of first Corinthians and read up Paul’s discussion 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


47 


of tongues, he will find that'the word “unknown” appears 
at least five times in that chapter, but in every instance it 
is italicized, showing that it did not occur in the Greek, 
but was inserted in the English translations. In the Re¬ 
vised Version the word “unknown” is left out entirely. 

God says, “if they speak not according to this Word, 
it is because there is no light in them.” Let us then test 
a few of the new lights by setting them in contrast with 
this infallible standard. 

The Light of Christian Science. 


Christian Science. 

Christian Science denies the 
Creation. It says: “That God 
created matter is an erroneous 
premise. ’ 1 

“Mortals are not created in 
God’s image.” 

Christian Science denies Di¬ 
vine pardon. It says: “God 
is principle and principle can 
not pardon.” 

Christian Science denies the 
reality of sin, sickness and 
death. It says: “Sin, sick¬ 
ness, death, is a belief only.” 

“Death is an illusion, for 
there is no death.” 


Christian Science denies the 
existence of angels. It says: 
“Angels are pure thoughts— 
not messengers.” 

Christian Science denies the 
efficacy of Christ’s atonement. 
It says: “Jesus never ransomed 
man by paying the debt that 
sin incurs. ’ ’ 

“One sacrifice, however 
great, is insufficient to pay the 
debt of sin.” 


The Word of God. 

The Bible says: “God cre¬ 
ated the heaven and the 
earth. ’ ’ 

“God created man in His 
own image; in the image of 
God created He him.” 

The Bible says: “Return 
unto the Lord,., for He will 
abundantly pardon.” 

The Bible says: “All have 
sinned. ’ ’ 

“Himself bare our sick¬ 
nesses.” 

“It is appointed unto men 
once to die.” 

“The last enemy that shall 
be destroyed is death. ’ ’ 

The Bible says that angels 
are “ministering spirits, sent 
forth to minister for them who 
shall be heirs of salvation.” 

The Bible says: “He is able 
to save to the uttermost.” 

“By one offering He hath 
perfected forever them that 
are sanctified.” 


48 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


“The atonement requires 
constant immolation on the 
sinner’s part.” 

Christian Science denies mi¬ 
racles. It says: “Miracles are 
impossible in science.” 

Christian Science denies the 
fact of a judgment. It says: 
“No final judgment awaits 
mortals. ’ ’ 


“By grace are ye saved 
through faith; and that not of 
yourselves; it is the gift of 
God.” 

The Bible says: “Jesus of 
Nazareth, a man approved of 
God among you by miracles.” 

The Bible says: “God hath 
appointed a day in which he 
will judge the world.” 


These are some of the many fundamentals of the 
Christian religion that are denied by Christian Science. 
How appropriate for Christians of today is the exhorta¬ 
tion of Paul to Timothy. “O Timothy, keep that which is 
committed to thy trust, avoiding. . .oppositions of science 
falsely so called, which some professing have erred con¬ 
cerning the faith.” 

The Light of the New Theology. 

Much of the new theology or advanced thought of 
today finds expression in the views of Reginald John 
Campbell. Mr. Campbell is pastor of the London “City 
Temple,” where Joseph Parker, that mighty prince of 
Gospel preachers, only a decade ago poured forth with no 
uncertain sound, the old truths of the Gospel of the 
blessed Son of God. On January 14, 1907, Mr. Campbell 
issued a theological manifesto, in which he sets forth in 
baldest terms his pantheistic, Unitarian and universalistic 
theories. 


The New Theology. 

“The starting point of the 
new theology is belief in the 
immanence of God and the es¬ 
sential oneness of God and 
man. ’ ’ 

“We believe that there is 
thus no real distinction be¬ 
tween humanity and the 
Deity: Our being is the same 
as God’s.” 


The Word of God. 

The Bible says: “Seek ye 
first the kingdom of God and 
His righteousness.” 

The Bible shows the deifica¬ 
tion of man to be the work of 
the Devil. It was the Serpent 
that said: “In the day ye 
eat thereof,..ye shall be as 
gods.” This falsehood will 
finally come to a head in the 
anti-christ, who will sit as God 
in the rebuilt temple at Jeru¬ 
salem. 


49 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


The new theology says: 
‘ ‘ Every man is a potential 
Christ, or rather a manifesta¬ 
tion of the eternal Christ.” 

The new theology bases its 
hope on the works of man and 
not Christ. It says: “We 
make our destiny in the next 
world by our behavior in 
this.” 


John the baptist (a man) 
confessed, “I am not the 
Christ. ’ 1 

The Bible says: “By grace 
are ye saved through faith; 
and that not of yourselves.” 


The new theology is univer- 
salistic. It says: “Ultimately 
every soul will be perfected.” 


The Bible says: “Wide is 
the gate, and broad is the way 
that leadeth to destruction, 
and many there be which go 
in thereat.” 


The new theology has no 
heaven to offer. It says: “The 
only heaven they could step 
into was the heaven in which 
they were now.” 


Jesus says: “I go to pre¬ 
pare a place for you;...that 
where I am, there ye may be 
also.” 


Mr. Campbell has nothing more than contempt for 
the fact that Jesus was born without a human father and 
that He was co-equal with God. How prophetic were 
the words of Dr. Parker, when, on November 29, 1900, he 
made the following statement from the pulpit of old “City 
Temple:” “We have had our opportunities of meeting 
God here, of reading the Word of God, and besieging, as 
an army might besiege a fortress, the altar known by the 
crimson hue; and yet some day a man may arise who will 
deny the Lord who bought him, who will preach a gospel 
without a Savior, a salvation without a cross; then write 
Ichabod upon the portals of this place and let it be for¬ 
gotten as a thing of shame, a memorial of unpardonable 
treason against the throne of God.” This is the universal 
drift of the advanced thought of the day and that marks 
the near approach of the coming of the Lord. 


The Light of Millennial Dawnism. 

We need only to call the attention of our reader to 
a few of the shocking errors of Millennial Dawnism; and 
from what we have said in the foregoing comparisons, as 


50 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


well as by our reader’s knowledge of the Bible, he will be 
able to judge for himself. Millennial Dawnism, or Rus- 
sellism, teaches 

1. That Jesus was only a mere creature in His pre¬ 
existent state. This is a blow at the Divinity of Christ, 
for if He was not divine in the beginning, he never was 
divine, for He is the “same yesterday and today and for- 
ever. 

2. That Jesus never had more than one nature at a 
time. This is a thrust at His incarnation, as He was con¬ 
ceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary. 

3. That Jesus twice experienced a change of natures 
—first from the spiritual to the human; afterward from 
the human to the divine. Here is a blow at His suffi¬ 
ciency in making an atonement for man, for He must be 
a Daysman who can lay a hand upon both the head of 
God as well as the head of man. 

4. That the body of Jesus was never raised from the 
grave. This is a dart hurled at the resurrection. 

5. That no man is evil by nature. Here is an attack 
of the story of the fall of man. 

6. That there will be a second probation. This is a 
thrust at the judgment or final retribution. 

“If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, 
how great is that darkness!” 

Murphy’s comment on the first verse of the Bible is a 
fine specimen of how much logic against heresy the Al¬ 
mighty can put into a single verse of Scripture. This 
simple sentence, as he shows, 

Denies Atheism, for it assumes the being of God. 

It denies polytheism, for it confesses the one eternal 
Creator. 

It denies materialism, for it asserts the creation of 
matter. 

It denies pantheism, for it assumes the existence of 
God before and apart from all things. 

It denies fatalism, for it involves the freedom of the 
Eternal Being. 


THE COUPLET OF GOD’S WILL 


“He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name 
before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Is¬ 
rael.’’—Acts 9:15. 

“I will show him how great things he must suffer 
for my name’s sake.”—Acts 9:16. 


H ERE is a clear exhibition of the dualism of the 
Lord’s will. God’s will is passive as well as 
active. At times it speaks to the children of Is¬ 
rael to “Go forward;” at other times it commands them 
to “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” There 
met and was exemplified in Paul’s life both of these 
phases of the Lord’s will. He was to bear the Lord’s 
name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of 
Israel. This is the active, the directive, phase of the Di¬ 
vine will. But, on the other hand, the Lord purposed 
showing him how much he must suffer for His name’s 
sake. Here is an illustration of the passive, or permis¬ 
sive, phase of the Divine will. So that Paul could not 
only say of himself, “In labors more abundant,” but also 
tell of “stripes above measure,” and “prisons more fre¬ 
quent.” Not only did his ministry take in “journeyings 
often,” but also “perils of water,” and “perils of robbers.” 
The scope of God’s will for Paul not only included what 
he was to do, but also the things that he must suffer. 

This dualism of the Lord’s will manifests itself in the 
use of that oft-repeated expression of the Apostle, “I am 
ready.” He was ready for service. He could say, “as 
much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you 
that are at Rome also.” He was ready to carry the gos¬ 
pel anywhere and everywhere. There was no quarter of 
the globe to which he was not willing to go with the 




52 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


blessed news of salvation. But, if God should will or or¬ 
der it otherwise, he was ready to suffer as well as serve. 
Says he, “I am ready not to be bound only, but also to 
die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And 
so was the will of the Lord for Paul. 

There is something specially comforting in this 
couplet for the “shut-in.” When an individual cannot be 
active he must be patient. When he cannot work for 
Jesus he must be content to sit quietly still for Him. 
When he cannot run God’s errands he must wait on the 
Lord for orders. When he cannot fight for Him he must 
be willing to suffer for Him. When he cannot do for 
God he must consent to endure for Him. But in either 
case it is the Lord’s will. The will of the Lord that sent 
Elijah on an errand to Ahab, sent also the prophet to the 
brook where he was to dwell in solitude and retirement 
The will of the Lord that demanded action on the part 
of the blind man in sending him to the pool to wash, also 
required him to stand still and submit to an application 
of clay and spittle to his eyes. So it is quite evident that 
the passive phase is as much the will of the Lord as the 
active. We are reminded of the poor, old sister who 
said, “The Lord said to me, ‘Betty, mind the house, look 
after the children,’ and I did it. By-and-by he said, 
‘Betty, go up stairs and cough twelve months.’ Shall I 
not do that also and not complain, for it is all that I can 
do.” 

(t Whatever my Father wills is best, 

Delight or suffering, toil or rest— 

Thine eye and Thine alone, can see 
What I should have, and do, and be. ” 

It is said that until lately there could be seen in the 
rooms of the American Tract Society, New York, two ob¬ 
jects which were worth years of meditation and study. 
The one object was a slight framework of tough wood, a 
few feet high, so bound together with hasps and hinges 
as to be taken down and folded in the hand. This was 
Whitfield’s travelling pulpit; the one he used when, de¬ 
nied access to the church buildings, he preached to the 


53 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 

thousands in the open air, on the moors of England. We 
can almost see the picture in our mind of this modern 
apostle, with the throngs of eager people around him ; or 
his hurrying from one field to another, bearing his Bible 
in his arms; ever on the move, toiling as with herculean 
energy, and a force like that of a giant. Thus, in that 
rude pulpit, we have a symbol of all that is active and 
fiery in the dauntless zeal of Christian service. But, look 
again, and see the other object. In the center of this 
framework, resting upon the slender platform where the 
living preacher used to stand, can be seen a chair—a 
plain, straight-backed, armed, cottage-chair; rough, sim¬ 
ple, meagerly cushioned, unvarnished and stiff. It was 
the seat in which Elizabeth Wallbridge, “the dairyman’s 
daughter,” sat and coughed and whispered, and from 
which she went only at her last hour to the couch on 
wdiich she died. Here also is an object which we may 
call a pulpit, a symbol of a quiet and unromantic life, yet 
hard in all Christian endurance. Every word that that 
poor, bedridden invalid uttered—every long and patient 
night she suffered—was a gospel sermon. And the num¬ 
ber of languages in which the life of that servant of God 
has preached the riches of Christ’s glory and grace, is 
known only to God. The one life is suggestive of the 
ministry of service; the other of the ministry of suffering. 
And who is able to rise and say which of the two is the 
more honorable. 

“Is God testing you through trial? Do not shrink the bitter pain, 

For if patiently endured, it will work eternal gain. 

He might make your pathway pleasant, He might so remove your 
cross 

That your soul should suffer from it an irreparable loss. 

“Then let patience be perfected, and God’s will be done in you; 

Do not hinder, do not murmur, He is faithful, kind and true. 

Stay awhile within the furnace, till He purges all your dross, 

Till His work has been accomplished bravely bear your daily cross. 

“Some day when within the glory you will see God’s time was best; 

That His way and will were wisest; so endure the present test. 

When His time shall come He’ll give you glad release from all 
your pain; 

And you ’ll praise Him for the trial and the everlasting gain. 


54 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


“So be patient, fellow-Christian, let God’s perfect work be done; 

He’s conforming you through sufferings to the image of His Son. 

Some day you shall be perfected, wanting nothing in His sight; 

And you’ll know His will was wisest and His ways were always 
right.” 

Naturally we are inclined to seek the service of labor 
more than the service of pain, forgetting that to endure 
suffering is the highest and most potent form of service. 
It is said, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an ex¬ 
ample, that ye should follow in his stepsbut nowhere is 
it said that “Christ spent His life in toiling and preaching, 
leaving us an example, that we should follow in His 
steps/’ Not that He does not want us to labor for Him 
in telling of His love, for He does; but He rather seeks to 
put special emphasis on suffering. And is it not more by 
the “things which He suffered,” rather than by the things 
which He did, by which He has made atonement for us? 
And He that “suffered without the gate” calls to us to “go 
forth therefore unto Him without the camp bearing His 
reproach.” Of the two Christ’s, the suffering Christ is 
the greater. His works and miracles were great, but His 
enduring of the cross was greater. If you seek for the 
majestic and sublime of His life, then go to the cross. 
What language can be grander than “when He was re¬ 
viled, He reviled not again; when He suffered, He threat¬ 
ened not.” Paul with his hands and feet in the stocks in 
the inner prison of the old Philippian jail, singing, is a 
greater marvel than Paul on Mar’s Hill preaching. 

There is no eloquence equal to the silent suffering for 
Christ’s sake. A young man belonging to the Young 
Men’s Christian Association was standing out on the 
sidewalk in a city, handing dodgers to folks out in the 
street and pointing up to the room where they were going 
to hold the service, and a gentleman who walked along 
with the crowd saw this young man hand a dodger to a 
fellow, and the fellow up with his fist and almost knocked 
him down on the sidewalk; but he regained his foothold 
and was ready with a dodger as another came along, and 
directly another man slapped him in the face as he gave 
him one and the gentleman got interested in watching 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 55 

how the young man took it. In a few minutes he put a 
dodger into another man’s hand, and the man caught him 
and just knocked him right down to the ground, tore one 
of his coat sleeves and bruised him up generally; but he 
got up and had another dodger ready for the next man 
that came along. The stranger went up into the room 
and after hearing the leader, he said: “Gentlemen, I 
never heard a sermon in my life yet that impressed me, 
but I stood out here before your door and saw how the 
roughs mistreated that young man over there, and I saw 
the spirit in which he accepted it; and I walked in here 
to your meeting, and I want the very same spirit which 
that boy manifested.” 

My reader may never have noticed the sudden break 
at the thirty-fifth verse of thaL wonderful eleventh chap¬ 
ter of the book of Hebrews. This portion of God’s word 
is called “Faith’s Roll of Honor.” But the chapter di¬ 
vides this roll into two parts. Hence a better name 
would be, “The Victors and the Victims of Faith.” All 
that precedes the thirty-fifth verse deals with the “vic¬ 
tors” of faith. It tells what men and women wrought or 
accomplished by faith. Abel “offered,” Noah “built,” 
Abraham “sojourned,” Isaac “blessed,” Jacob “wor¬ 
shipped,” and Moses “forsook.” Through faith they 
“subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained 
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched 
the violence of fire, and turned to flight the armies of 
the aliens.” These all are doers of God’s will. But at 
the thirty-fifth verse the scene changes. We are there 
introduced to another group. It is the company of the 
“and others.” Those of this company comprise the “vic¬ 
tims” of faith. Ah, this blessed assembly of the “and 
others.” See what is said of them. “And others were 
tortured, not accepting deliverance, had trial of cruel 
mockings and scourgings; yea, moreover of bonds and im¬ 
prisonments ; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, 
were tempted, were slain with a sword, they wandered 
about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, af¬ 
flicted, tormented.” Their glory consisted not in what 


56 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


they did, but in what they suffered. Shall we say that 
this latter group is less noble than the first? God forbid. 
Of the latter it is said, “the world was not worthy.” And 
who knows but in that day when “the first shall be last, 
and the last first,” that this chapter will not be reversed 
and these blessed “and others” placed first on Faith’s 
Roll of Honor. It takes a better type of faith to suffer 
for the Lord than to accomplish for Him. And it is not 
those who work who shall reign with Him, but those 
“who suffer with Him.” John saw those who “were be¬ 
headed” living and reigning with Jesus. 

And, strange, the “victors” of faith are mentioned by 
name—Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses—but not so 
with the “victims” of faith. Their names are unknown 
among men. They are designated as the “and others,” 
and that is about all man knows of their identity. They 
never appeared on a platform before a great convention. 
They had no one to sound their praises. Their work did 
not call forth the noise of cymbals or the applause of the 
multitudes. They lived and suffered in seclusion. They 
were too Puritanical in their principles and too orthodox 
in their beliefs to become popular with the masses. They 
could have been brought from obscurity by yielding a 
little in their radical ways of thinking and doing. Had 
they trimmed their sails to have suited the ways of the 
world they could have sailed into port with unfurled ban¬ 
ners. Had they made a few concessions, or compromised 
with the world a little, they could have won its hearty 
approval. But, no, they preferred to suffer for and with 
Christ rather than recant or “accept deliverance, that they 
might obtain a better resurrection.” The offers of the 
world were too insignificantly meager to justify the sacri¬ 
fice of their Christian principles and hope. 

The company of the “and others” takes in the “desti¬ 
tute” and “afflicted.” It does not require wealth, learning, 
high position, or fame to make of a man a hero. Such 
was Adolph Koch, a “shut-in” for the period of nearly 
twenty years, the latter part of that great period of time 
being spent at the Home for Incurables in Chicago, where 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


57 


he died not long since. He had been a successful busi¬ 
ness man in his earlier life. But soon affliction entered 
his family circle. His wife and two little daughters all 
died upon the same day, and a little later this bereave¬ 
ment was followed by the death of his only son. Then 
came his own long, protracted sickness, in the course of 
which he was the subject of repeated operations, losing 
both of his legs, his left arm, three fingers of the right 
hand, the right collarbone, and two ribs from each side. 
Yet this man with Job-like afflictions bore everything un- 
murmuringly. He was cheerful, loved and constantly 
studied his Bible, was a beautiful penman and wrote 
many letters and did all the good to others that was in 
his power. A friend occasionally furnished him a little 
money for a Summer’s outing. His mode of locomotion 
was in a wheel-chair, and when he would return after 
several weeks absence his description of his enjoyment 
was the most enthusiastic. Several years before his death 
he wrote this beautiful poem, with the request that it 
should not be published during his life: 

The Master’s Orders. 

“Go Work and Pray.** 

Such were the orders yesterday, 

And should I dare to disobey? 

Then His Command 

Was wholly changed; He bade me stand 
And contemplate the workings of His hand. 

Today His Will 

Is spoken in the words “Lie Still 
And shall I not His wish fulfill? 

“Lie Still and Pray” 

That is my Lord’s command today, 

And I will do His will—His way. 


njxruxrinjTJTriJiJTJTJxm 


THE COUPLET OF OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS 

“I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make 
thee a minister and a witness.*’ —Acts 26:16. 


P AUL served the Lord in a two-fold official capacity: 
that of a “minister” and also that of a “witness.” As 
the Lord said, “I will make thee a minister and a 
witness.” Now the business of a witness is to tell what 
he knows, and the work of a minister is to give of what 
he has. And it will be noticed that these two official 
functions fit into the replies the Lord gave to Paul’s two 
questions. The Lord’s first reply was, “I am Jesus,” and 
this fact became the very burden of the Apostle’s testi¬ 
mony as a witness. No sooner had he been converted 
than “Straightway he preached Christ in the synagogue 
that He is the Son of God and confounded the Jews which 
dwelt in Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.” 
The Lord’s reply to Paul’s second question was delivered 
by Ananias. In substance it was that he should be a 
“chosen vessel.” How well this answer fits into Paul’s 
work as a minister. The Lord filled as that of a vessel 
Paul’s life with Himself and then sent him to carry the 
precious treasure “before the Gentiles, and kings and the 
children of Israel.” 

Paul, the Minister 

When Jesus fed the multitude of the five thousand He 
took the five little barley loaves and the two little fishes 
and divided them among the disciples. Not that they 
might have a feast all to themselves. By no means. 
They were to take that which they had received and 
with it minister to the needs of the multitude. He is 
blessing His children for the same purpose today. Has 
He given you strength to labor with your hands? It is 





PAUL’S CONVERSION 59 

not that you might hoard away a fortune, but that you 
“may have to give to him that needeth” (Eph. 4:28). 
Have you received from Him comfort? Do not keep it 
to yourself. He comforteth us, “that we may be able to 
comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort 
wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (II Cor. 
1:4). Has He blessed you with a knowledge of the 
Word? It is not for your own edification, but that you 
might “communicate unto him that teacheth in all good 
* things (Gal. 6:6). Has He imparted to you the gifts of 
His grace? Those gifts are not for you alone. “As 
every man hath received the gift, even so minister the 
same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold 
grace of God.” (I Peter 4:10). 

In the book of Zephaniah, first chapter and twelfth 
verse, the Lord says: “I will punish the men that are 
settled on their lees.” Here is seen a rather peculiar con¬ 
dition—“men settled on their lees.” What does it mean? 
The figure is rather rare in biblical terminology, yet it is 
as significant as it is rare. The idea is that of a sediment 
or dregs that settle at the bottom of a bottle of wine or 
drugs, when left unused or undisturbed for any length of 
time. The meaning is religious stagnation or spiritual 
inactivity. 

You no doubt have watched the druggist fill a pre¬ 
scription. He takes down a bottle from one shelf and 
pours some of its contents into a vial, and then another 
from a different shelf, and so on until the prescription is 
filled. He then puts a label, containing the directions, on 
the bottle, and among the directions given you generally 
find, “Shake well before using.’* Why such instructions? 
Simply because if the bottle stands undisturbed for any 
length of time some of the important ingredients will set¬ 
tle to the bottom of the bottle and thus the medicinal vir¬ 
tue of the mixture would be lost. May it not be that 
many Chrisians have lost the virtue of their influence by 
their inactivity? Deep down in their lives there are pos¬ 
sibilities and powers which have never been awakened or 
stirred up. “Stir up the gift that is in thee,” says Paul 


60 PAUL’S CONVERSION 

to Timothy. “I think it meet, as long as I am in this 
tabernacle, to stir you up/’ says Peter. 

But how may this be done? There is a verse in the 
forty-eighth chapter of Jeremiah that tells us. The verse, 
in part, is this: “Moab hath settled on his lees, and hath 
not been emptied from vessel to vessel.” This is a case 
of cause and effect. Moab’s condition of being “settled 
on his lees ,, was simply the result of not being “emptied 
from vessel to vessel.” A sediment will never gather in 
a vessel so long as you keep pouring its contents from one . 
vessel into another. 

Reader, is yours a torpid spiritual condition? Is 
there anything sluggish about your religious experience? 
Are you undergoing a stagnation of life? Is your exper¬ 
ience a Dead Sea experience? Have you lost that zest so 
characteristic of a first love? If so, the cause of Moab’s 
trouble is your trouble—you have not been “emptied 
from vessel to vessel.” Like the Dead Sea, you have al¬ 
ways been receiving and never giving. Bestir yourself. 
Begin to empty some of the blessings of your life into the 
lives of others, and note the result. 

“Have you had a kindness shown? 

Pass it on, pass it on! 

’Twas not given for thee alone, 

Pass it on, pass it on! 

Let it travel down the years, 

Let it wipe another’s tears, 

Till in heaven the deed appears, 

Pass it on, pass it on! ” 

But you say, “I have nothing to give; I am like the 
Apostle Peter, ‘Silver and gold have I none!’ ” It is true 
that Peter had neither silver nor gold, but you will re¬ 
member that he said to the lame man at the gate of the 
temple, “But such as I have give I thee.” Now are you 
willing to do as Peter did? Are you ready to give “such 
as you have” for Jesus? But you say, “What did Peter 
have?” Very much. Let me name a few of the things 
he had and gave. 

Peter Gave His EARS. 

He listened to the lame man while he made his ap- 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


61 


peal for alms. The consecration of the ear is of vital 
spiritual importance. For instance, hearing is essential 
to life. “Incline your ear and come unto me, hear and 
your soul shall live.” “The dead shall hear the voice of 
the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.” Hearing 
is essential to prevailing prayer. “He that turneth away 
his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an 
abomination.” Hearing is essential to faith. “Faith 
cometh by hearing.” 

And what have men not accomplished who first gave 
their ears to the call of God and then to the cries of a 
needy world. One day Abraham listened to what God 
had to say to him, and He made of him the head of a great 
and mighty nation. Moses one day listened to God and 
He made of him a great emancipator and law-giver. Sam¬ 
uel very early in life listened to the Lord and He made 
of him a mighty judge and prophet. The Apostles and 
early disciples gave an ear to the call of the Lord and He 
made of them mighty channels of blessings. 

Peter Gave His EYES. 

It is said that he “fastened his eyes upon” the lame 
man. The eyes can be made a mighty power for either 
good or evil. A little child, two and one-half years of 
age, was lying looking up into the face of her mother. 
The mother in turn was gazing down into the face of her 
child. Presently the little one said, “You are talking to 
me, mamma.” “No darling,” said the mother, “I didn’t 
say anything.” But the little child insisted, saying, “You 
is talking to me wif your eyes, and you say, ‘O you dear 
little girl, how I do love you.’ ” 

Many years ago a dear old pastor in the State of New 
York was urging the unsaved of his congregation to ac¬ 
cept Christ. A young lady, a society girl, was deeply 
moved, and was about to stand up for prayers. She 
turned and glanced at her mother. The mother was a 
member of the church. She gave her daughter a look 
that caused her to keep her seat. The second appeal was 
made by the pastor. The girl was about to stand up 
when another look from her mother restrained her. Once 


62 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


more the invitation was given. It was an urgent appeal. 
The girl bent forward, clinched the seat in front of her, 
and was about to stand; but she gave one more glance at 
her mother, and in her mother’s face she saw a look of 
keen displeasure. She fell back into the seat an unsaved 
girl, and all because of a pair of eyes that had never been 
consecrated to the Lord. 

Peter Gave His HANDS. 

He took the lame man by the “right hand and lifted 
him up.” Peter was a firm believer in the gospel of the 
hand. Many centuries ago the Lord said, “I spake unto 
you by the hand of Moses.” In reading these words we 
almost conclude that it is a misprint, and that it should 
read, “I spake unto you by the mouth or lips of Moses.” 
We can hardly think of one speaking by the hand, unless 
it be a deaf mute who uses what is known as the “deaf 
and dumb alphabet.” Moses spake by his hand in the 
use of the rod in obedience to the commands of Jehovah, 
also when he wrote in answer to God’s orders. Jesus 
spake by Plis hand when He touched the leper, and the 
eyes of the blind, and laid His hands in blessing on the 
little children. 

Mr. Sankey tells how during the great Moody meet¬ 
ings in England he drove out of London to a gipsy camp 
at Epping Forrest. While there a little gipsy boy came 
up to his carriage. Mr. Sankey put his hand upon the lit¬ 
tle fellows head and said, “I hope, my boy, the Lord will 
make a preacher of you some day.” Years later when 
Gipsy Smith made his first visit to America Mr. Sankey 
took him for a drive in Brooklyn. While driving through 
Prospect Park the Gipsy evangelist called up the incident 
and asked the great singer if he remembered it. Mr. 
Sankey said that he remembered it well. But think of 
the surprise when Gipsy Smith said, “I am that boy.” 

Peter Gave His LIPS. 

What words of hope and helpfulness he gave the 
lame man—“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise 
up and walk.” Some years ago a woman went to G. 


63 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 

Campbell Morgan at the close of the Sunday morning 
service, and said, “Oh, I would give anything to have 
some living part in the work that is going on here next 
week in winning men and women to Christ, but I do not 
know what to do.” Mr. Morgan said, “My sister, are you 
prepared to give the Master the five loaves and two fishes 
you possess.” She said, “I do not know that I have five 
loaves and two fishes.” “Have you anything,” continued 
Mr. Morgan, “you have used in any way specially?” She 
did not think that she had. “Well,” said he, “can you 
sing?” She admitted that she sang some at home and 
that she had sung before at an entertainment.” “Well, 
now,” he said, “let us put our hand on that. Will you 
give the Lord your voice for the next ten days?” She 
promised she would. Mr. Morgan said that he shall 
never forget that Sunday evening. He asked her to sing 
and she sang. She sang the gospel message with the 
voice she had, feeling that it was a poor, worthless thing, 
and that night there came out of that meeting into the in¬ 
quiry room one man, who afterwards said it was the gos¬ 
pel song that reached his heart. That man became one of 
the mightiest workers for God in that city and country. 

Give such as you have. Minister to Him and for 
Him with such things as He has given to you. The 
widow of Zarephath gave her pittance of oil and meal. 
The little lad gave his loaves and fishes. Barnabas gave 
his land. Dorcas gave her needle. Lydia ministered 
with her hospitality. Aquila and Priscilla gave their 
knowledge of the Bible. 

The little maid sat in the high-backed pew, 

And raised to the pulpit her eyes of blue; 

And the prayers were long, and the sermon grand, 

And oh, it was hard to understand: 

But the beautiful text sank deep in her heart, 

Which the preacher made of his sermon a part; 

“Silver and gold have I none,” read he; 

“But such as I have give I to thee.” 

And the good old pastor looked down and smiled 
At the earnest gaze of the little child. 

The dear little maid carried home the word, 

Determined to use it as chance might afford. 


64 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


She saw her mother unceasingly 
Toil for the needs of the family, 

So she cheerily helped, the long day through, 

And did with her might what her hands found to do. 

“ ‘Silver and gold have I none,’ ” said she, 

“ ‘But such as I have give I to thee,’ ” 

And the joyful mother tenderly smiled 
As she bent to kiss her little child. 

On her way to school at early morn 

She plucked the blooms by the wayside born; 

“My teacher is often tired, I know, 

For we’re sometimes naughty and sometimes slow; 

Perhaps these may help to lighten her task,’’ 

And she laid the flowers on her teacher’s desk. 

“ ‘Silver and gold have I none,’ ” said she, 

“ ‘But such as I have give I to thee.’ ” 

And the weary teacher looked up and smiled 
As she took the gift of the little child. 

As she played with her sisters on the grass, 

She saw a dusty traveler pass. 

“Poor man,” she said. “He’s tired, I think; 

I’ll go and get him a nice, cool drink.” 

And she hastened to fetch her little cup, 

And dip the sparkling nectar up. 

“ ‘Silver and gold have I none,’ ” said she, 

“ ‘But such as I have give I to thee.’ ” 

And the thirsty, dusty traveler smiled 
As he took the cup from the little child. 

Sweet and innocent, clad in white, 

She knelt by her little bed at night. 

With a childish trust she longed to bring 
Some gift to her Savior and her King. 

“So much from Thee every day I receive; 

But my heart is all that I have to give. 

‘Silver and gold have I none,’ ” said she, 

“ ‘But such as I have give I to thee.’ ” 

And our Father looked down and tenderly smiled 
As He took the gift of the little child. 

—Elizabeth Rosser. 

You say you have nothing to give? How strange. 
He has placed in your possession the remedy for man’s 
sins, and asks you to carry it to him. He has put into 
your possession the pardon of those poor prisoners of 
doubt who “sit in darkness and the shadow of death” in 


65 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 

all parts of the heathen world, and asks you to deliver it. 
Suppose a criminal in one of the prisons of our common¬ 
wealth under the sentence of death. Suppose the Gover¬ 
nor should commit to you his pardon and ask you to de¬ 
liver it. What if you should delay to deliver it until after 
the execution had taken place? The blood of that man 
would be upon you. But what of the pardon of the myr¬ 
iads of precious souls that God has entrusted to our care? 
If we fail to deliver it their blood will be upon our souls. 
Do not ask what God will do with the heathen if they die 
without knowing Him. That is not the question. What 
will He do with us if we fail to tell them? 

A letter written nearly fifty years ago by a dying Un¬ 
ion soldier on the bloody field of Gettysburg, while the 
fearful storm of battle was still raging about him was de¬ 
livered only a few years since to a brother of the dead sol¬ 
dier now living in the city of Philadelphia. James and 
John Marlowe enlisted in the early days of the war in the 
Sixth Pennsylvania. They served together for a few 
months. Then James was transferred to another regi¬ 
ment and the brothers lost track of each other. On the 
third day’s battle at Gettysburg John received a mortal 
wound. As he lay dying a comrade came to him to see if 
he could do anything for him. There was just one thing 
the dying man wished for and that was to send a few last 
words to his brother. The comrade, who was Frank 
Comber, a member of a New York regiment, raised the 
wounded man to a sitting position and sustained him 
while he expended his remaining strength in penning a 
short note to his brother, in which he strongly urged him 
to become a Christian. Having finished the note Ser¬ 
geant John Marlowe sank back and quietly breathed his 
last. Comber, to whom the note was committed for de¬ 
livery to the brother, carried it with him through all the 
campaign that succeeded the Gettysburg fight, until he 
was mustered out at the close of the war. Then he began 
to search for the surviving brother. He consulted the 
records of the War Department, but could learn nothing 
of the brother, James Marlowe, until a few years ago, in 


66 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


a Grand Army paper, Comber noticed an account of some 
function in which General Ellis Post, of Germantown, 
took part. Among the names of the officers was that of 
James Marlowe. Comber wrote to Marlowe at once and 
learned that he was the man for whom he was looking for 
over forty years. He would not trust the letter of the 
dying brother to the mails. The message was too sacred 
for any such risks. It might go astray and be lost. He 
left New York for Philadelphia and delivered the letter 
in person to the man to whom it was addressed so many 
years before. Nineteen hundred years ago the King of 
heaven gave into the hands of his church a message— 
“Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature.” It was his last, His only request. It is a 
sacred message. And after all these centuries it is the 
crying shame of Christendom that the message has not 
yet been delivered. Mr. Comber had a reason for not de¬ 
livering his message, for he knew not the whereabouts of 
the dying man’s brother. But we know where the lost 
souls are for whom Christ died. India, China, Africa, 
Japan and the isles of the sea, are filled with them. Will 
we be chosen vessels for Him to carry the precious news 
to them? Paul could look into the faces of the people of 
his generation with an approving conscience, and say, 
“I delivered unto you first of all that which I also re¬ 
ceived, how that Christ died for our sins according to the 
scriptures, and that He was buried and that He rose again 
the third day according to the scriptures.” Can we say 
the same of ourselves and this generation? 

Paul, the Witness 

In the realm of jurisprudence there are certain things 
that disqualify an individual as a competent witness. The 
same things hold true in the spiritual realm. What are 
some of these things? 

Ignorance. 

We cannot testify to a thing of which we have no 
knowledge. If you should be called to the witness stand 
in one of the courts of our commonwealth and be asked 



PAUL’S CONVERSION 67 

what you knew about the case under trial and you should 
answer, “Nothing,” the court would kindly inform you 
that “You’re excused.” The strength of a witness lies 
in what he knows. Ananias said to Paul, “The God of 
our Fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldest know 
His will, and see the Just One, and shouldest hear the 
voice of His mouth, for thou shalt be a witness unto all 
men of what thou hast seen and heard.” The Jews might 
persist in circulating the report that the disciples came by 
night and stole away the body of Christ out of the grave 
while the guard slept, but Paul knew better. He had 
seen Jesus in heaven with his own eyes and from which 
place he had heard Him speak. 

Testimony is always linked with knowledge. Jesus 
said, “We speak that we do know and testify that 
we have seen.” John the Baptist says, “I saw,” 
then he “bare record that this is the Son of God.” Where 
there is nothing known there can be nothing told. And 
the fact that so many professed Christians are silent con¬ 
cerning Christ may be regarded as an evidence that they 
have no experimental knowledge of Him, “for we cannot 
but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” 

This age needs a revival of Christian testimony—per¬ 
sonal, public, pungent, direct, forceful, convincing. Many 
of the Christians of the present time, it is to be feared, 
have degenerated into little more than gospel parrots. 
They testify in other men’s thoughts and sayings, instead 
of telling earnestly, yet simply, of the things that they 
themselves have experienced of the life and power of 
Christ. There is too much hearsay testimony and too 
little personal knowledge. If you were to go into court 
and testify for the commonwealth or the defendant as you 
testify for Christ the court would silence you at once. 
Hearsay evidence does not stand in law. Second-hand 
knowledge counts for nothing in a trial by jury. 

’ Is it not this element of personal testimony that 
makes the rescue mission stations so famous for right¬ 
eousness. It is there that converted drunkards and 
prison convicts tell of the mighty regenerating power of 


68 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


the Gospel. It is there that men with records as black as 
hell itself hear the old story of the gospel from the purged 
lips of some who have been “down and out,” and who 
have been as low or even lower than they themselves in 
sin. It was S. H. Hadley, the poor, homeless, friendless, 
dying drunkard who staggered into the Jerry McAuley 
Mission and there heard McAuley, the once thief, outcast, 
drunkard—a regular old bum—tell, amid deep silence, the 
story of how God had saved him. It was this testimony 
that saved Hadley. 

Christian testimony is Christianity’s best and only 
defense. “The world will listen to facts when they 
are deaf to reason.” Note how Paul begins his speech to 
the angry mob, “Men, brethren, and fathers, hear my de¬ 
fence” (Acts 22:1). What is his defence? I fancy that 
the mob stood with breathless silence as they waited for 
this acutest of all reasoners, this profoundest theologian 
of the church, who was about to defend Christianity as rep¬ 
resented in his own person. We can almost hear one say to 
the other, “Now we shall have the most masterly debate 
of the ages. Paul is about to attempt to prove the gospel 
to be true. Let us prepare for the most learned argu¬ 
ments.” But see how Paul disappoints their expecta¬ 
tions. All he does is to tell them his Damascus road ex¬ 
perience, and that in the most commonplace terms. That 
is his only defence. And it is the best that Christianity 
can produce. You can get nothing stronger. Let a 
brother rise in experience meeting and tell that he was a 
great sinner, and that Jesus Christ saved him, and he has 
told everything; and all the wise philosophers of the ages 
cannot answer him. It is here where Christianity finds 
its strongest bulwarks. As long as it can stand by re¬ 
deemed men and say—“This is my work; listen to its re¬ 
cital”— it is safe. 

Prejudice. 

Let a witness admit before the court that he has had 
frequent disputes with the defendant and that at times 
the controversies grew so warm as to almost come to 
blows, and see how soon the attorney for the defendant 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


69 


will turn to the judge and say, “Your honor; this man is 
not a competent witness. There are evidences here of a 
prejudiced mind, hence the testimony that this man will 
give is apt to be biased,” and your evidence would be dis¬ 
credited. 

Reader, you claim to be a witness for Jesus, do you 
not, but how about those controversies you have had with 
Him? He has been asking you for a fuller consecration 
of yourself to Him, and you have been fighting Him on 
every point. He has been trying to get a larger place in 
your life for some time, but you have been offsetting Him 
on every side. He has been making an effort to have 
you give up those worldly associations in which you are 
entangled, but how rudely you struggle with Him against 
His will on this point. He has been using some dear 
Christian to lead you into a deeper religious experience, 
yet how fiercely you contend with Him in these things. 
You will never have a clear testimony so long as those 
controversies continue. 

You have no doubt heard how Mr. Meyer almost sold 
his birthright because of his resistance of God’s will on a 
certain point. He had been fighting the matter for months. 
Every time he came to the Lord’s table and handed out 
the bread and wine the thing would meet him. When he 
attended a convention or meeting of holy people the thing 
would come up before him. It was the one point in his 
life where his will was entrenched. One night he de¬ 
cided he would do something with Christ which would 
settle it one way or the other. He met Christ. A strug¬ 
gle ensued. Finally as he knelt he gave Christ the ring 
of his will with the keys on it, but kept back one little 
key, the key of one little closet in the back story of his 
heart. At this Jesus seemed to say to him, “Are they all 
here?” He said, “All but one.” “What is that?” said He. 
“It is the key to a little cupboard in which I have some 
things which Thou needest not interfere with.” Then 
Jesus took the keys and put them back again into Mr. 
Meyer’s hand and as He began to glide away toward the 
door, He said, “My child, if thou cannot trust Me with all 


70 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


you do not trust Me at all.” Mr. Meyer cried, “Stop!” 
and He seemed to come back to him. Mr. Meyer yielded. 
The Lord took the keys. The struggle ceased. There 
was a great calm. It was the beginning of a new and 
mighty ministry. Before this experience his testimony 
was weak, but now “with great power gave he witness of 
the Lord Jesus.” 

James says, “That Spirit which He made to dwell in 
us yearneth for us even unto jealous envy.” The picture 
here is that of a lover and his espoused maiden. The 
maiden is growing cold in her affections. She has begun 
to listen to the wooings of other suitors, and the en¬ 
croachments they are making are beginning to threaten 
a separation from her first love. Her first lover witnesses 
the attentions paid to his espoused by his rivals. He 
keenly feels the piercing effects of the growing alienation 
of her affections. He yearns over his espoused’s conduct 
with a jealous envy. So it is with the Spirit of Christ 
which He has made to dwell in the believer. The Spirit 
sees Christ’s bride, the church, courting the attentions of 
the world. He sees the growing fondness for the things 
of the world, the flesh and the Devil—His rivals. He 
sees the love for His word giving place to fiction. He 
feels the gradual waning of the affections that were once 
bestowed upon Him. He realizes that His fellowship is 
not appreciated as it once was. He knows'that it is only 
a question of time until He will be abandoned entirely for 
another. And oh how He yearns over us and in us! How 
He seeks to win us back to our first love. How His love 
is wounded as He sees the place He ought to occupy in 
our hearts and lives given over entirely to a rival of His, 
“He yearneth for us even unto jealous envy.” 

Self-Interest. 

We knew of a young professional man who went into 
a new community and opened an office. It was not long 
until the report was abroad that he had united with a 
church. And when all the facts became known it was 
not surprising that the church with which he united was 
one of the strongest numerically and financially in the 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


71 


community. When questioned as to the new step he had 
taken he voluntarily admitted that his object was to en¬ 
large his income by an increased patronge. What 
weight do you suppose the public would attach to such 
a man’s testimony? 

The Devil seems to have known that there is a streak 
or vein of self-interest somewhere in our nature. And 
while it may not be true that every man has his price, yet 
it is a fact that many have. In view of this the Devil one 
day said to God, “Doth Job serve God for nought?” As 
much as to say, “Job is righteous and serves You for what 
there is in it for him. Take these things from him,” 
says the Devil, “and he will curse Thee to Thy face.” 
The Devil’s supposition of such a possible weakness of 
our nature was correct, but somehow he was mistaken in 
his man. 

Billy Sunday, the evangelist, relates an incident of 
the miscarriage of justice through self-interest on the part 
cf the jury. A man was accused of stealing bacon. He 
went to an attorney and pleaded with him to take his 
case, but the facts were such that the laSvyer did not want 
the job. Finally he took it, and when the day for trial 
came the case looked so black that the only thing the 
attorney could do was to put in a plea for the man’s 
family. The jury went out and when they returned they 
brought in a verdict of “not guilty,” to the great surprise 
of the attorney. Taking the man aside he told him that 
he was as guilty as anything in this world, and asked how 
the jury came to acquit him. “Ten of those men,” re¬ 
plied the accused, “got part of the bacon.” A man who 
is a Christian only because he has an axe to grind will 
find that men will lay no stress whatever upon what he 
says. 

Crime. 

The law discredits the testimony of a criminal. Even 
if it can be but proven that a man’s character is bad, that 
fact alone will weaken his testimony. Character and tes¬ 
timony stand or fall together. This is particularly true 
of Christian testimony. One evening a lady went into a 


72 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 

little mission room, and was there asked to say something 
to a poor wreck of a man who had been for many years 
a gambler. The man looked at her suspiciously. “Do 
you play cards?” he asked. “No.” “Do you dance?” 
“No.” “Do you go to the theatre?” “No; not now.” 
“Very well,” said he, “then you may talk to me. But I 
won’t listen to one word from you fine folks who are do¬ 
ing, on a small scale, the very things that have brought us 
poor wretches where we are.” A wheezing, short- 
breathed man is a poor person to commend a cure for 
asthma. A bald-headed man is a bad recommendation 
for a hair tonic. And a worldly, inconsistent church 
member is a wretched failure to tell about the cleansing 
blood of Jesus. 

One thing as much as anything else that the prodigal 
lost by his waywardness, was his testimony. One can 
fancy that he almost hears some of his old companions 
out there in the “far country” laugh at him as they see 
him among the swine troughs. But with a defiant air he 
straightens himself up and says, “You need not think I 
am poor and laugh at me because I am dressed in rags. 
I belong to a very respectable family. My father is rich, 
lives in a very fine mansion, and has servants that dress 
better than you do.” Imagine then how those young fel¬ 
lows would laugh at that. “Your father rich! You look 
like it, don’t you? Your father living in a fine house? 
Your father have well dressed servants? You may tell 
others that, but don’t try to pass any such nonsense on 
us.” And the poor prodigal, as he looked himself over, 
could find nothing to say. His life flatly contradicted his 
testimony. Do not try to tell the sinner of the delights 
of Christ’s service when you yourself find more pleasure 
in the evening party than in the mid-week prayer meet¬ 
ing. Do not act the hypocrite by attempting to impress 
upon the mind of the unbeliever how fully and effectually 
the Lord satisfies the every longing of the hungry soul 
when you yourself can hardly wait for the benediction of 
a religious service in order to get out and into a moving 
picture show. 


73 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 

From what we have now said it is evident that com¬ 
petency as a witness consists of both capability and 
credibility. For instance, a man may be called into court 
as a witness. No man has ever disputed his word. He 
is perfectly honorable. His word is as good as his bond. 
So far as credibility is concerned he is fully competent. 
But he lacks as to capability. He has no personal knowl¬ 
edge of the facts of the case that is being tried. He is ex¬ 
cused by the court. There are men today who are fully 
honorable. Their lives are such as would commend the 
gospel of Christ. But they are not saved. They have 
never been born again. They are absolutely ignorant so 
far as an experimental knowledge of salvation is con¬ 
cerned. These are the moralists, or the men who have 
united with the church without first being converted. The 
public would believe what they would say, but they have 
nothing to say. They know not the Christ, the Son of 
the living God. 

On the other hand, a man may go into court. He 
may have been an eyewitness of everything that is 
charged against the defendant, and so far as capability is 
concerned he is fully qualified to testify. But his morals 
are bad. His word is not reliable, and because of this 
his testimony is questioned. He is not competent. This 
is a picture of the inconsistent Christian. He may have 
been born again. He may once have been enlightened 
and have tasted of the heavenly gift and made partaker 
of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God 
and the power of the world to come, but he has fallen 
away from his steadfastness in Christ, and men have lost 
all faith in his profession. “What he is,” as someone has 
said, “speaks so loudly that no one can hear what he 
says.” 

A Christian lady worker was speaking to another girl 
at a revival meeting, trying hard to bring her to Christ. 
Some few evenings later this lady worker attended a 
theatre, and, happening to turn around, whom should she 
see but the very girl she had spoken to at the meeting. 
The girl’s eyes had a triumphant, mocking look in them. 


74 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


“Ah ha!” she exclaimed, “what are you doing here?” 
“Well,” replied the young Christian, “I heard it was a 
nice, respectable sort of a play, so I thought I would come 
and see it.” “You did, did you?” said the other scorn- 
fully. “You are a pretty sort to be speaking to me about 
my soul. You ought to go back to the meeting and get 
’right down on your knees in the sawdust among the sin¬ 
ners.” A rebuke like this would be in place for some 
others. And they would likely get it, providing they at¬ 
tempted to testify for Christ in the work of soul-saving. 

The word witness is a strong term. It could easily 
be rendered martyr, and at places in some copies it ap¬ 
pears so. As for instance, “Ye shall be my martyrs.” 
Christ’s disciples must not confirm their testimony with 
an oath, as a witness generally does, nor yet alone seal it 
with signs and miracles which they were expected to *. 
work, but, if necessary, they must attest the truth of the 
gospel by the suffering of death. All of the Apostles, 
save John, are said to have suffered cruel martyrdom be¬ 
cause of their testimony for Christ, and even John was 
thrown into a caldron of boiling oil at Rome from which 
he miraculously escaped alive. Paul, the subject of our 
book, was beheaded at Rome by that cruel tyrant Nero. 
So long as we have not yet “resisted unto blood, striving 
against sin,” we should not complain of that which we 
must suffer for Him, for we have not as yet filled up the 
full measure of the cup of a witness. 

But how can an individual at this late date of the 
Christian era be a fully competent witness for Jesus? 
How can a man now tell of Christ’s death with the same 
force of conviction as those who were eyewitnesses to it? 
How witness of His resurrection? None of us saw Him 
die. To none of us did He appear after His resurrection. 
How can we declare Him to be the Son of God when we 
did not see Him declared such by His “resurrection from 
the dead?” How can we testify to His place at the right 
hand of God in the heavenlies when we did not witness 
His ascension? Peter said, when selecting a successor to 
Judas, “Wherefore of these men which have accompanied 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


75 


with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out 
among us, beginning with the baptism of John, unto that 
same day that He was taken up from us, must one be or¬ 
dained to be a witness with us of His resurrection.” Now 
these words would seem to confine Christian testimony 
to Christ’s immediate disciples. 

But with all due credence to Peter’s statement, there 
is still a sense in which believers today are as fully com¬ 
petent to testify of the great facts in the work of Christ 
as were the early disciples. Nineteen or twenty miles 
from where I am sitting there may be an electric dynamo. 
From that dynamo to where I am there may be a wire 
strung. I touch that wire and there is produced in me 
a sensation that corresponds exactly to that subtle energy 
that is stored away in that dynamo nineteen or twenty- 
miles away. Now it is not necessary for me to go all 
that distance to know that there is an electric dynamo 
somewhere in existence. The effects of the touch of the 
wire that I receive tell me as much as I could possibly 
know by even going and becoming an eyewitness of it. 
Now running back over the history of time for nineteen 
centuries there is the wire of faith that puts me into vital 
touch with the great facts of the person and work of 
Christ. By this wire I touch the fact of Christ’s divine 
Sonship, and I am made a son; “for as many as received 
Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of 
God, even to them that believe on His name.” And at 
once the Spirit begins to bear witness with my spirit that 
I am a child of God. So I know that Jesus is the Son of 
God, for how could the relation of sonship be effected in 
me by my simple faith if He were not God’s Son I touch 
the wire again, that wire that links me with the death of 
Christ, and there is wrought in me a deadness unto sin. 
The world becomes crucified unto me and I unto the 
world. This is not a myth. It is not imagination. It is 
an actual experience. Now what works that change in 
me If it is not true that nineteen hundred years ago Jesus 
died for me on the cross? I touch the wire again by 
which I am put in touch with His resurrection from the 


76 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


dead, and immediately I find myself rising from a state of 
death in trespasses and sins to a newness of life. I am 
born again, begotten to a lively hope. Now this is not a 
phantom of the mind. It is an actual fact. Now by 
what process has this change been brought about in me 
if it is not true that I have been begotten by the resurrec¬ 
tion of Jesus Christ from the dead? Did He not say, 
“Because I live, ye shall live also.” Is it not a fact that 
“if Christ be not risen we are yet in our sins?” And if 
that is a fact, then it is also a fact that if we are not in our 
sins, that then Christ is risen. I touch the wire again and 
there is wrought in me a strange heavenly mindedness; 
my affections are turned to things above, where Christ 
sitteth at the right hand of God. What brings about this 
change in me if Christ is not at the right hand of God in 
the heavenlies now? 

He has risen. I have risen, too, 

Out of the sepulchre of crushing woe; 

Some angel’s hand (perchance it was His own) 

Rolled from the doorway sorrow’s sealing stone, 

And I arose, arose with a throe. 

He has risen. I have risen, too, 

He has risen. I have risen, too, 

Out of the shameful passions of the flesh, 

Out of the unseemly pride and greed of pelf, 

Out of the grossness of my lower self, 

Into the Spirit’s ether, fine and fresh, 

He has risen. I have risen, too, 

He has risen. I have risen, too, 

Out of the scoffer’s tomb of doubt and scorn, 

Out of the prison-house of moral sight, 

Out of the grave and its enshrouding night, 

Into the resurrection’s radiant morn. 

He has risen. I have risen, too, 


—Susie M. Best. 


uiJTJTjiJTJxrmjxrTn^ n_n_^ 

THE COUPLET OF COMMUNICATED 3 

BLESSINGS 


“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness 
to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.”—Acts 
26:18. 

“That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and in¬ 
heritance among them which are sanctified by faith that 
is in Me.”—Acts 26:18. 


rULrmnJTJTnJTJ'TJTJTJTJTJTJTTl^ 


P AUL was to be a channel of divine blessing to the 
Gentiles, to which people he was especially sent. 
These blessings are divided into two classes. First, 
the opening of the eyes, the turning from darkness to 
light, and from the power of Satan unto God, or the 
things that are necessary to make an individual a fit sub¬ 
ject for adoption into God’s family. And, second, the 
“forgiveness of sins and inheritance,” or those blessings 
to which an individual becomes eligible by becoming a 
son of God. We shall therefore call the first group the 
pre-sonship blessings, and the second group the post-son- 
ship blessings. 

Pre=Sonship Blessings 

Transformed, or a Changed State. 

“To open their eyes.” This change has the appear¬ 
ance of a new creature. It looks like conversion. Sight 
is always associated with conversion. We can think of 
nothing else when a man rises in a meeting and says, 
“Once I was blind, but now I can see.” It was so in 
Paul’s case. Ananias was sent to him that he might re¬ 
ceive his sight, and there “fell from his eyes as it had 
been scales, and he received his sight forthwith.” Now 
Paul is sent to the Gentiles for the same purpose for 









78 


PAUL'S CONVERSION 


which Ananias was sent to him. The Lord does not 
want the blind to lead the blind, lest both of them fall 
into the ditch. 

Man needs a purged vision to see and understand the 
things of God. An old Scottish lady, blinded with cata¬ 
racts on her eyes, was led into a richly furnished office 
of an occulist. An operation was performed. She re¬ 
turned from time to time for attention, when finally the 
doctor removed the bandages one Easter morning, and 
she could see. She looked at the doctor, at the furnish¬ 
ings of the office, at the sunlight pouring into the room, 
and exclaimed: “How beautiful! Were all these things 
here the first day I came?” “Yes, madam,” the occulist 
replied. “Were these pictures on the wall?” “Yes, 
madam.” “And the sun as bright that day as today?” 
“Just as bright.” “Then why did you not tell me about 
all these things that day, for I love such things.” 
“Madam,” he replied, “my care that day was to give you 
sight; nothing that I could tell you about them would be 
cf much importance until you could see them.” It is 
only after man’s spiritual eyes are opened by the re¬ 
generating power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of 
God, that he can see the beauties of the spiritual life. 
“Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom 
of God.” “For what man knoweth the things of man, 
save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things 
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” A horse 
cannot understand and appreciate a painting, the work 
of human genius. It takes a human mind to appreciate 
the work of the human mind. It is only the “spirit of 
man” which is in man that enables him to know “the 
things of man.” So it is only the Spirit of God which is 
in the believer that enables him to understand the things 
of God. “Now we have received the Spirit which is of 
God, that we might know the things that are freely given 
to us of God.” 

Translated, or a Changed Sphere. 

“Turned from darkness to light.” This looks like 
separation. The Bible urges the Christian to “have no 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


79 


fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.” Be 
lievers are the children of light; sinners are the children 
of darkness. “What communion hath light with dark¬ 
ness?” The believer should be like his Great High Priest 
—“separate from sinners.” He should answer to the de¬ 
scription of a disciple as given by the Master—“They are 
not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” And 
note, we are not warned so much against the opposition 
of the world, but against its friendship. “The friendship 
of this world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore 
will be a friend of the world is an'enemy of God.” 

Several years since a wealthy and cultured American 
died in England, having resided there for many years, and 
during all that time he had been a prominent figure in 
social and literary circles, yet had never dined at the table 
of any Englishman since his first week abroad. He had 
lectured at Oxford and in London, before learned socie¬ 
ties, and was everywhere recognized as a scholar and a 
gentleman, but upon his arrival in England he had ac¬ 
cepted the first invitation to dinner that was tendered 
him. At that dinner his host made some reference to the 
United States which he could illy brook, but which his 
position as guest denied him the right to resent. Upon 
the spot he formed a resolution never to accept a courtesy 
that might conflict with his duty to his country. And for 
thirty years he mingled with the people of England, yet 
as a man separate and apart. It is almost impossible for 
one to harmonize with the religion of Jesus the conduct 
of many professing Christians in attending social func¬ 
tions, lectures and plays, where the truths and principles 
of the Christian religion are ridiculed and treated with 
contempt. How can a true child of God fellowship with 
men who every moment heap indignities upon their Mas¬ 
ter? How can they find pleasure in going to places where 
their faith and the faith of their fathers is repeatedly in¬ 
sulted? How can they relish the writings of men who 
look upon the Bible as something less than good fiction? 
Has the cross of Christ, in which the Apostle Paul gloried 
and by which he was crucified unto the world and the 


80 


PAUL'S CONVERSION 


world unto him, no place in the lives of believers today ? 
If the world is crucified unto a man, then it is a dead 
thing to him, and he wants it buried out of sight. Liv¬ 
ing men want the living Christ. And if the believer is 
crucified unto the world, then the world does not want 
the believer. He is a dead thing to its desires, and aims, 
and hopes, and plans. So if you are a true believer, 
“Marvel not if the world hate you.” “If ye were of the 
world, the world would love his own, but because ye are 
not of the world,, .therefore the world hateth you.” 

There is a close connection between separateness 
from the world and spiritual power. Does the Christian 
desire his influence to be felt for good? If so, let him 
make the impression upon the world that Christ his Mas¬ 
ter made, that he is not of this world, that in motive, aims 
and rewards, his life is distinct from that of the worldling. 
But if he gives the impression that he lives for the same 
ends after which they so eagerly pursue, that the things 
that satisfy them also satisfy him, that his standard of 
right is not a whit higher than theirs, he will never be 
anything but a weakling, a spiritual imbecile. The Chris¬ 
tian’s manner of life and speech must give the sinner un¬ 
easiness of conscience, and his very example must be a 
standing reproof against the unbeliever’s fatal course. 

The cry of the world is “Compromise, compromise.” 
“Come down with your standards and we will adopt 
them.” Do not these words savor of that subtle cry at 
Calvary—“Come down from the cross and we will be¬ 
lieve Thee?” What if Jesus had come down from the cross 
without dying? And what if His murderers had believed 
on Him? They would have been no better off than be¬ 
fore. The Son of Man must be “lifted up” in order to 
make possible eternal life for those who believe on Him. 
Christ must pay our debt before we dare trust Him as 
our Surety. He can not save others if He saves Himself. 
And what if the church should lower its standards? And 
what if the world would then adopt them? The world 
would be made no better. Some years ago, it is said, the 
boundary line between South Carolina and Georgia was 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


81 


changed. An old sister who had lived in Georgia dis¬ 
covered that by the change she had been placed in South 
Carolina. When she fully realized the fact that she lived 
in another state she expressed herself as finding the cli¬ 
mate so much better in the Carolinas than in Georgia. 
Poor deluded soul! And yet is that not precisely a pic¬ 
ture of the only effect on the sinner were the church to 
lower her standards? The church might make conces¬ 
sions sufficient to embrace in its membership the entire 
unbelieving world. She might yield in principle to such 
an extent that sinners everywhere would endorse her 
faith. But with what result? The sinner might imagine 
himself better off, but it would only be a delusion. Be¬ 
sides, the church would be degraded to the level of the 
world. 

When the Lord saved David He did not accommo¬ 
date the rock to his feet by lowering it to the miry clay. 
Far from it. He did just the opposite. He brought him 
up out of the pit and out of the miry clay and set his feet 
upon the rock. To have done otherwise would not have 
helped David in the least. On the other hand, it would 
have besmirched the rock. The Lord does not accommo¬ 
date His truth to suit our sinful condition, but rather ad¬ 
justs our moral state to harmonize with His truth. He 
does not attempt to light up the darkness of this old 
world, but rather calls us “out of its darkness into His 
marvellous light.” He makes no effort to convert the 
powers of darkness, but rather delivers us from them and 
“translates us into the kingdom of His dear Son.” 

Compromise is compared to the fugitive in the Siber¬ 
ian forest driving furiously to escape the hungry wolves 
and at intervals throwing out its children hoping thus to 
appease its ferocious pursuers. You can never give the 
world enough until it has you. You may throw out your 
principles one by one, and in each instance there will be 
possibly a momentary diversion, but you will soon dis¬ 
cover that the wolves will be on your track again fiercer 
and faster than ever. Satan never invented a more fasci¬ 
nating falsehood than that the church can win the world 


82 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


by falling in with its worldly standards and habits and 
by accommodating truth to worldly opinions. If we 
would be the Lord’s people we must cut ourselves loose 
from the world. “Come out from among them, and be 
ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean 
thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto 
you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the 
Lord Almighty.” 

Transference, or a Change of Masters. 

“From the power of Satan unto God.” This is en- 
duement. This is the key to a life of victory. This is 
the secret of an overcoming life. It is the power of a 
new Master entering a life that was once dominated by 
Satan. It is what Thomas Chalmers would call “The ex¬ 
pulsive power of a new affection.” A story is told of a 
young man who entered business. In all things he pros¬ 
pered. Through his wise and prudent dealings none was 
able to overreach him. Later it was learned that he had 
a father, a man of singular knowledge, of wide experience, 
of great wealth and influence. In every business trans¬ 
action the son consulted the father. In every difficulty 
he sought his counsel. When in need of money he drew 
upon his father. Their love to each other was more and 
more manifest as the one trusted and the other helped. 
Do you wonder that such a young man had a successful 
business career and outrivaled his competitors? Yet that 
is what God is anxious to do for us. He wants to get the 
mastery of our lives. He desires an opportunity to live 
in us that He might fight our battles for us. It is the 
only way to make a real success of our life. 

How absurd, then, to place upon a man, as is so often 
done these days, the responsibilities of the Christian life 
before he has been turned from the “power of Satan unto 
God.” The sinner is utterly incapable for the perform¬ 
ance of Christian duties. The “power of cancelled sin” 
must first be broken before he is free to serve the Lord. 
The prisoner must first be set at liberty before he is ready 
for the duties of citizenship. His attempts to keep the 
law and do right, will all be futile so long as he is void 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


83 


of that mighty power that worketh in them that believe. 
A victim of strong drink tried to deliver himself from the 
habit. Being educated, he tried teaching, hoping that re¬ 
sponsibility would sober him. But alas! his efforts 
failed; he gave up his school and departed in disgrace. 
Later he actually entered the ministry, hoping that en¬ 
gaging in so solemn a calling would give him self-mas¬ 
tery. But as he found that he had not been “born from 
above,” he soon drifted back to his old life again. Every¬ 
body was discouraged. At last, induced to try again, he 
took hold of God by faith. His eyes were opened. He 
was turned “from darkness to light,” and from the “power 
of Satan unto God.” Then he overcame. 

“Run, run, and work, the law commands, 

But gives me neither feet nor hands; 

But sweeter sounds the G-ospel brings, 

It bids me fly and gives me wings.” 

These three experiences—conversion, separation and 
enduement—are linked with believing, for they are said 
to be brought about by “faith that is in Me” (Christ). 
And faith is inseparably coupled with sonship, for it is to 
“them that believe on His name” that He gives the 
power (the right or privilege) to become the sons of 
God.” 

Post=Sonship Blessings 

The pre-sonship blessings make possible the post- 
sonship blessings. The one is preparatory to the other. 
Men are made eligible to the latter by receiving the for¬ 
mer. The former changes are wrought in them “that 
they may receive” the latter blessings. What are these 
post-sonship blessings? 

“Forgiveness of Sins.” 

It appears that “forgiveness of sins” is a covenant 
blessing. It belongs alone to the children of God. It is 
no more the property of unregenerate sinners than 
heavenly inheritance. So let us cease speaking of the 
sinner as being saved by forgiveness, as such a thing is 
impossible. The sinner is under sentence of death, and 



84 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


forgiveness cannot nullify that. Take the criminal who 
is about to suffer capital punishment. In many cases, 
while on the scaffold, they ask the forgiveness of the 
judge, the court and the public, and in most cases they re¬ 
ceive it, yet they still die. Forgiven, yet dies. And why? 
He has broken a law and justice makes forgiveness im¬ 
possible. A court cannot forgive the guilty and still be 
just. The law affixes a penalty and justice says the law 
must be enforced and the penalty paid. But if one of¬ 
fers himself to be punished in the offender’s stead and 
the court accepts the substitute, then the offender is 
cleared without being forgiven. And the court is still 
just—it inflicts the penalty—and it is the justifier 
(clearer) of the offender. God hath spoken and He will 
not repent. He hath said, “The soul that sinneth it shall 
die.” Now if under this law God forgives the sinner that 
he dies not, then God is not just. And if God is just, then 
the sinner cannot be forgiven. Justice cannot forgive. 
But Christ takes the sinner’s place under the law. He 
dies on the cross in the sinner’s stead. The sinner goes 
free. And how? Through forgiveness? No, through 
substitution. And substitution makes forgiveness un¬ 
necessary. This solves the mighty and difficult problem 
of redemption. It unties a vast knot. It enables God to 
still be “just and the justifier of him which believeth in 
Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). 

The sinner needs a Substitute, one to take his place 
in death. A mother tells her child not to go out into the 
dampness and cold. The child disobeys and goes. It 
comes back with a high fever and croupish. Critical 
symptoms begin to manifest themselves. The physician 
is called in. The child asks forgiveness. Forgiveness is 
cheerfully granted, forgiveness full and free. But in the 
face of forgiveness the child grows from bad to worse, 
and soon dies. The undertaker is called in. The white 
crepe is placed upon the door. Sorrow reigns in that 
home. And all this in the face of forgiveness. Forgiven, 
yes, forgiven, yet dead. Forgiveness did not save that 
child. There was a broken law, the law of Nature, which 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


85 * 


had no forgiveness to offer. What that child needed 
was some person or power to set aside the penalty of a 
broken law. In other words, it needed a substitute to 
bear the penalty of death in its stead. That is what the 
sinner first needs. 

There is great confusion in the teaching on this point. 
It is due to the fact that the new birth and forgiveness of 
sins are looked upon as synonymous experiences. But 
they are not. The new birth makes possible sonship and 
sonship makes possible forgiveness. And if our reader 
will but consider the nature of each experience the dis¬ 
tinction will at once become apparent. For instance, the 
prodigal entered his father’s family through birth, an or¬ 
deal that was never afterward repeated. But after he 
was in the family all wrongs were righted through confes¬ 
sion and forgiveness. When a man gets sick he never 
thinks of having himself reborn as a means of getting rid 
of his physical ailments. All he does is to have doctored 
up that which has already been born. Now the unre¬ 
generate sinner is born again when he believes; the sin¬ 
ning or blackslidden believer is forgiven when he con¬ 
fesses his sins. As John says, “If we (believers) confess 
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” 
And a man who has once been born again can never get 
back to where he was before the new birth took place. 
If such a thing were possible, then every time he gets 
back into such a state the work of the new birth must be 
repeated; and Christ must “often have suffered since 
the foundation of the world.” 

“Inheritance.” 

Inheritance, like forgiveness, is also contingent upon 
sonship and its three conditional blessings. “If children, 
then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” So 
we must be saved to become a son, and we must be a 
son to become an heir. There can be no heavenly inheri¬ 
tance where there has Deen no earthly experience of a 
heavenly nature. Heaven is a prepared place for a pre¬ 
pared people. We must first be made “meet (fit) to be 
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” We 


. 86 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


must be turned from darkness to light and from the 
power of Satan unto God,” in order to receive “inheri¬ 
tance.” 

But believers not only become heirs of God, but also 
joint heirs with Christ. There is no honor or glory that 
He will enjoy apart from His followers. A dying judge, 
the day before his departure to be with Christ, said to his 
pastor, “Do you know enough about law to understand 
what is meant by joint-tenancy?” “No,” was the reply. 
“I know a little about grace and that satisfies me.” 
“Well,” said the judge, “if you and I were joint-tenants 
on a farm, I could not say to you, That is your hill of 
corn, and this is mine; that is your stalk of wheat and this 
is mine; that is your blade of grass and this is mine; but 
we would share and share alike in everything on the 
place.” And he continued, “T have just been lying here 
and thinking with unspeakable joy, that Jesus Christ has 
nothing apart from me, that everything He has is mine, 
and we will share and share alike through all eternity.” 

It is said of Rowland Hill, that when an old man of 
eighty-four and just before he died, one Sunday night 
when the light had been put out in Surrey Chapel, he was 
heard to go to and fro in the aisle, singing to himself: 

“When I am to die, ‘Receive me’—I’ll cry, 

For Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell why; 

But this I do find, we two are so joined, 

He’ll not be in heaven and leave me behind.” 


THE COUPLET OF OBTAINED MERCY 


5 “I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in q 

2 unbelief. ”—I Timothy 1:13. 5 

d “I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ 5 

p might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them ? 
d which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlast- * 5 
p ing. ”—I Timothy 1:16. d 

W E have come to the most precious couplet of the 
series. It is a veritable mine of rich, prophetic 
utterances, a winepress almost bursting with 
luscious dispensational truth. And we beg our reader not 
to judge the importance we attach to these blessed truths 
by the limited amount of space we give to them. Their 
weightiness would justify volumes devoted to their dis¬ 
cussion. All that is possible for us to do in the brief 
chapter before us is to give a few hints or suggestions 
and then leave our reader to the many excellent works 
given wholly to these things. 

First Cause of Obtained Mercy. 

Paul “obtained mercy, because he did it ignorantly 
in unbelief.” Unbelief is never excusable, though ignor¬ 
ance does modify its gravity to a certain extent. For “at 
the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now com- 
mandeth all men everywhere to repent.” What Paul did 
he did blindly. He even thought that he was doing God 
service when he persecuted the early Christians. But for 
Paul to have done the same things of which he was guilty 
after he met Jesus in the way would have aggravated his 
sin a thousand-fold. “For if we sin wilfully after that we 
have received the knowledge of the truth, there re- 
maineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful 
looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall 
devour the adversaries.” In this ignorance of unbelief 




88 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


Paul is a type of the Jews in their crucifixion of Jesus; 
“for had they known it, they would not have crucified the 
Lord of glory.” 

Second Cause of Obtained Mercy. 

Paul’s conversion was “for a pattern.” Now a pat¬ 
tern is a sample of the whole. The word “pattern” as 
used in this instance is a figure of the first coin stamped 
by a die. Now if we desire to form an accurate idea of 
what the bulk will be we must then study carefully the 
pattern in all its minute details. What are the distin¬ 
guishing features of Paul’s conversion? 

1. Paul was converted as a Hebrew. He is careful 
to make special note of this fact in his defence before 
Agrippa—“I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying 
in the Hebrew, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” 
Hence Paul’s conversion was purely Jewish. Please keep 
this fact in mind. 

2. Paul’s conversion was the “first” of a group of 
conversions. There were thousands converted before 
Paul, but his was the “first” conversion to take place in 
the manner in which it did. It was unique in itself. 

3. Paul’s conversion took place ahead of time. Says 
he, “And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born 
out of (before) due time.” So the group of conversions, 
of which Paul’s was a part, belongs to a later period. He 
is a “pattern to them which should hereafter believe.” 

4. Paul was converted by the appearance of Jesus in 
glory. Never before, nor since, has a conversion taken 
place in this manner. People are converted in this age 
by the preaching of the Gospel and not by the appearing 
of Christ in glory. So the group of conversions, of 
which Paul’s is a “pattern,” will take place by the appear¬ 
ing of Christ in glory. 

5. Paul’s conversion is a pattern of “longsuffering.” 
Here, as someone shows, is an example of longsuffering 
carried to its highest pitch. Longsuffering in which all 
the patience of a loving God seemed to be revealed in one 
single instance. In Paul’s case it was longsuffering in a 
concentrated form; all the longsuffering that has ever 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


89 


been seen, or ever will be seen, seemed to meet in him. 
Think of the Lord allowing a man to live while persecut¬ 
ing and putting to death the members of His own body. 
Think of the effectual call of God’s grace with a subject 
so unworthy. Think of the act of the Lord in putting 
such a man into the ministry and sending him out as an 
evangelist among the Gentiles. So the people of which 
Paul is the archetype must be a body of persons with 
whom the Lord has shown unprecedented forbearance. 

6. After Paul was converted he first preached the 
gospel to his own people—the Jews; then he became a 
world-wide missionary to the Gentiles. So the people of 
whom Paul is a pattern will first carry the gospel to their 
own people, then after that to the Gentile world at large. 

It is almost useless to ask who this group of future or 
“hereafter” believers is of which Paul is a pattern. It is 
the Hebrew nation, the Jews. They are the people to 
whom the Lord has manifested unexampled forbearance. 
And, like Paul, the Jew will be converted by a sight of 
Jesus in glory. “Behold, He cometh with clouds and 
every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced 
Him.” “They shall look on Me whom they have pierced, 
and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his 
only son.” The tribes of Judah and Benjamin will first 
receive the Lord as their Messiah, and these two tribes 
will bring their brethren (the ten tribes) as an offering to 
the Lord, out of all nations (Isa. 66:20). And when all 
Israel is gathered into their own land unto their returned 
King, He will then send them forth to be the mission¬ 
aries of the world. Men will call them the “ministers 
of our God,” and they will go forth telling that Jesus is 
alive and is returned to the earth from whence He had 
been rejected, and that He is reigning in power at Jerusa¬ 
lem. They will invite the Gentiles to come up to Jerusa¬ 
lem to worship Him. Then Zechariah 8:22, 23, and Eze¬ 
kiel 37 will have a literal fulfillment; then the last events 
mentioned in that wonderful eleventh chapter of Romans 
will be interpreted by a commentary of startling events. 

The “hereafter” period, at which time the Jew will 


90 


PAUL'S CONVERSION 


“believe on Him to life everlasting,” will surely come. It 
comprises a large part of the burden of prophecy. And 
prophecy is simply history written beforehand and is al¬ 
ways literally fulfilled. The “due time,” to which Paul’s 
conversion properly belongs, will unfailingly take place. 
The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Then a “nation 
shall be born at once.” Remember, His curses upon His 
people are only limited. Note a few of them. “Behold 
your house is left unto you desolate.” Forever? Oh, no. 
Only “Until ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in 
the name of the Lord.” Listen again. “Jerusalem shall 
be trodden down of the Gentiles.” How terribly literal 
this has been fulfilled. But is this condition to be perma¬ 
nent? By no means. Only “until the times of the Gen¬ 
tiles shall be fulfilled.” “Blindness in part hath hap¬ 
pened unto Israel.” But will they never recover from 
this blindness? Most assuredly. It is only to last “until 
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” It is true, as the 
Apostle says, that “even unto this day, when Moses is 
read, the vail is upon their heart.” But it is also true, as 
he immediately adds: “Nevertheless when it shall turn 
to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.” 

But when shall these things come to pass? As soon 
as the “fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” The Lord is 
now visiting the Gentiles and taking out of them a people 
for His name. And He says, “After this I will return, 
and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is 
fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and 
I will set it up; that the residue of men might seek after 
the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is 
called, saith the Lord who doeth all these things” (Acts 
15:14-17). Do not look for a world-wide acceptance of 
the gospel in this age. It will only be after Jesus returns 
to the earth, and occupies the throne of His father David, 
and the conversion of the Tews takes place, that such a 
glorious state of affairs will be realized in the earth. 



THE COUPLET OF REVELATIONS 



Acts 26:16. 


“These things which thou hast seen.”—Acts 26:16. 
“Those things in the which I will appear unto thee.” 



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W HEN the Lord appeared to Paul on the Damas¬ 
cus road He made only a partial revelation of 
Himself. The things which the Apostle then 
saw and heard were to be followed later on by those 
things in the which the Lord would yet appear unto him. 

It is on this point that many young converts make a 
fatal mistake, resulting often in the shipwreck of their 
faith. They conceive the idea that they received every¬ 
thing the Lord has for them at conversion, when conver¬ 
sion is only a small part of the things that go to make a 
full-fledged Christian experience. The difficulty, no 
doubt, arises from a misapprehension of the nature of the 
Christian religion. 

Christianity is a journey. Believers are in this world 
as “pilgrims and strangers.” . Now a journey is not com¬ 
pleted by a single bound. It is accomplished step by 
step. Conversion is only one of the first steps. It is the 
first glimpse of light. There is still much more to follow, 
for “the path of the just is as the shining light that 
shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” 

In taking a journey of any great distance the scenery 
will change with every mile or two. Once it is a moun¬ 
tain, then a valley; once a fertile plain, then a barren des¬ 
ert. If the scenery remains the same from day to day it 
is quite evident that you are at a stand still. It is even 
so with the Christian. There must be a constant change 
of experience. He must go from grace to grace. A mo¬ 
notonous experience is a sure mark of spiritual stagna¬ 
tion. 





92 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


And we must not mistake the moral retrogression of 
the world about us for religious progression on our part. 
Looking from the window of a motionless railway coach 
at a moving train on the adjoining track will give you the 
impression that it is your train that is moving. But if 
you take a glance at the stationary buildings on the op¬ 
posite side of the car your mistake is at once discovered. 
We are sure to misjudge our spiritual state when we at¬ 
tempt to ascertain it by such a false and unreliable stand¬ 
ard as a comparison with the world about us. What to 
us may appear Christian progress may be nothing more 
than the degeneration of evil—men and seducers waxing 
“worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 

Christianity is a life. “He that hath the Son hath 
life.” But Jesus came not only that we might have life, 
but that we “might have it more abundantly.” And it is 
interesting to note the different degrees of this life spoken 
of in the Bible. The third chapter of John tells of simply 
life—babe life, as it were. And babe life is often so faint 
that it is hardly perceptible. As the infant lies in the 
cradle you can hardly tell whether it is dead or alive. Its 
vitality is barely sufficient for its own existence. The 
fourth chapter of John tells of a well of living water 
(v. 14). Here is a fuller expression of life, sufficient for 
the needs of a whole family. Jacob’s well supplied him¬ 
self, his children and his cattle (John 4:12). The seventh 
chapter of John tells of still larger supplies of life— 
“rivers of living water” (v. 38). Here is life in abund¬ 
ance—life for the individual, life for the family, life for 
the community, life for a nation. No carrying of pitchers 
here. No drudgery of water pots. No longer the neces¬ 
sity of running to a conference or convention in order to 
ret filled. It is now a channel-bed through which a num¬ 
ber of rivers are incessantly pouring their bounteous sup¬ 
plies. No longer a creaky pump, into the top of which 
you must pour about as much water as you get out at the 
spout. To spend a week of labor on a derelict Christian 
with a view of getting him to work and then get one day 
of service out of him as a compensation for your trouble, 


PAUL’S CONVEKSION 


93 


is anything but profitable or encouraging. You might 
just as well do the work in the first place and thus save 
yourself the aggravating annoyance of a disappointment. 
But it is an effortless flow now, a spontaneous pouring 
forth of the richest yield. No more a meagre, scanty sup¬ 
ply. Once the amount was just sufficient to taunt the 
thirst. Now the flow is profuse. Nothing spasmodic 
about it, no gushing forth by fits and jerks. No surplus 
in winter and famine in summer. Nothing intermittent 
about it. It is a constant flow, increasing with the years. 

In speaking of these “rivers of living water” our 
Lord doubtless had in mind the river of Ezekiel’s vision, 
for He is particular in showing that these “rivers” are 
“As the Scripture hath said” (John 7 :38). Now the far¬ 
ther the river of Ezekiel flowed the deeper it became. At 
the first it reached the ankles, merely covering the feet. 
Salvation first changes the walk. A thousand cubits down 
the stream it reached to the knees. This is the prayer 
life, the power of intercession. A thousand cubits far¬ 
ther and the waters were to the loins. Here is the idea 
of procreation or generation, as the Bible repeatedly 
speaks of offspring as the “fruit of the loins.” It is a 
picture of the believer travailing in pain until Christ be 
formed in some soul the hope of glory. Still farther on 
down the stream and the waters were deep enough to 
swiim in. Here is the life of faith, the abandonment of 
all confidence in the flesh. 

Christianity is a a new creation. By faith man be¬ 
comes a child of God, a new creature in Christ Jesus. He 
begins the Christian life as a babe. But he must not re¬ 
main a babe; he must “desire the sincere milk of the word 
that he may grow thereby.” John in his epistles recog¬ 
nizes three stages of Christian experience. 

1. Childhood. “I write unto you, little children, be¬ 
cause your sins are forgiven.” Many Christians never 
get beyond the forgiveness of sins. It is nothing but 
sinning and repenting, and repenting and sinning. Forty 
years after their conversion they are still found rehears¬ 
ing the same musty experience. They know nothing 


94 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 


else. They spend their whole life in laying the “founda¬ 
tion of repentance from dead works and of faith toward 
God/’ instead of leaving these first principles of the doc¬ 
trine of Christ and going on “unto perfection.” 

The Bible sets forth some unmistakable characteris¬ 
tics by which we may determine child life. Children are 
fond of play. They play church, they play home, they 
play school, and they play business. They treat nothing 
as being real. The weightiest professions and the most 
sacred callings are converted into mere pastime. The 
Archbishop of Canterbury once asked a stage manager 
how it was that they affect their audiences with things 
imaginary as if they were real, while the things of the 
church which are real are treated as imaginary. “Why,” 
replied the stage manager, “the reason is plain enough. 
We actors speak of the things imaginary as if they were 
real, while too many in the pulpit speak of things real as 
if they were imaginary.” Many simply play at religion. 
The solemn realities of God, and time, and eternity, are 
treated with an air of lightness and insincerity. Children 
are quarrelsome. They wrangle about anything and 
everything, and sometimes about nothing. Paul was 
compelled to speak to the Corinthians as “babes in 
Christ” because of their disposition to “envy and strife 
and divisions.” A babe will fight over a toy, and yet pos¬ 
sibly smile while the incendiary is putting the torch to its 
father’s home. Some men will lift their hands in horror 
at an omission or change in the order of a church service, 
yet allow the most serious heresies, heresies that deny 
the very fundamentals of the Christian religion, to pass 
without a single word of protest. They will “strain at a 
gnat and swallow a camel.” Children live on milk. 
Milk is for weak digestions. Paul had to feed some with 
“milk, and not with meat,” because they “were not able 
to bear it.” And milk is a predigested food; it has al¬ 
ready passed through the digestion of another. Some 
people never see a new truth for themselves. They find 
their pleasure not so much in the study of the Bible di¬ 
rect, but rather in the results of other men’s study of the 


PAUL’S CONVEKSION 95 

Word. Children are not certain. They are always ask¬ 
ing questions. They need everything labeled. It is, 
“Dare I do this?” “Is it right for me to go there?” “Is 
it wrong for me to do that?” Babe Christians never get 
beyond the stage of the “questionable” things. “He is 
unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, 
even those who by reason of use have their senses exer¬ 
cised to discern both good and evil.” So long as one is 
in the nursery he ought to have guides and instructors 
and be under tutelage. Children are moved by impulse 
more than principle. This accounts for their fickleness 
and the inconsistencies and contradictions in their con¬ 
duct; and this is the thing that subjects them to impres¬ 
sions of the external. The manners and the style of the 
delivery of the preacher carry more weight with them 
than the gospel which he preaches. Fine music appeals 
to them more than sound doctrine. Sociability catches 
them quicker than sanctity. Children are given to snares. 
We never hear of adults being kidnapped; it is a danger 
solely confined to child life. Paul urges us on “unto a 
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the ful¬ 
ness of Christ; that we henceforth be no more children, 
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of 
doctrine, by the sleight of men, whereby they lie in wait 
to deceive.” The curse of the church is the overgrown 
babyhood of the saints. The time that should be given 
to sinners is taken up in coddling the believers. Every 
few weeks a bottle of spiritual comfort must be carried 
to them to keep them sweet. Children never go after 
things themselves, unless it is mischief. Between the 
work of smoothing out ruffled tempers and patching up 
petty quarrels, the church finds no time whatever for any¬ 
thing else. 

2. Young manhood. “I have written unto you, 
young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God 
abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” 
Here is the stage of victory, the strength of youth, the 


96 


PAUL'S CONVERSION 


period when the mind is best adapted to the accumulation 
and use of Bible knowledge. 

3. Maturity. “I have written unto you, fathers, be¬ 
cause ye have known Him that is from the beginning.” 
Here is richness of knowledge coupled with ripeness of 
experience. But how few comparatively reach this stage. 
Youth for zeal and enthusiasm, and old age for wisdom 
and sound judgment. As an illustration, compare the ad¬ 
vice given by the old men to Rehoboam with that given 
by the youth. (I Kings 12:6-11). 

Christianity is a warfare. It is not made up of one 
battle, but many. The followers of Christ go forth “con¬ 
quering, and to conquer.” 

Christianity is a building. It is erected little by 
little And what a sad, humiliating sight is a half com¬ 
pleted building. All that behold it begin to mock the 
builder, saying, “This man began to build and was not 
able to finish it.” 

Christianity is a school. Jesus is the Great Teacher 
come from God and His disciples are His learners. And 
mark you, the elementary truths of the Christian religion 
are not the only things He has to teach us. There is an 
“understanding,” but there is also the “full assurance of 
understanding.” There are the “things of God,” but 
there are also the “deep things of God.” There is 
“grace,” but there are also “riches of grace.” There is 
His “kindness,” but there is also His “loving kindness.” 
There is His “mercy,” but there is also His “tender 
mercy.” There is His “love,” but there is also His 
“abounding love.” 

The great events of Christ’s life are illustrative of 
different stages of Christian experience. His birth. 
Birth is essential to life and life is essential to growth. 
Dead things do not grow. Temptation. He was the 
“tried Stone.” God never commits the responsibilities 
of great undertakings to men before being tried. Geth- 
semane. The place of a surrendered will. The Cross. 
The place of crucifixion, where both the good and bad are 
put to the tree as nothing more than “loss” and “dung” 


97 


PAUL’S CONVERSION 

(Phil. 3:3-11). The Grave. The old man put out of 
sight. It would be a ghastly sight to pass through a 
cemetery and see the limbs of the dead protruding. We 
must keep out of sight if men would see Jesus in us. 
Resurrection. The life of the supernatural, when God 
and faith take the place of reason and sight. Ascension. 
Christ ascended against the law of gravitation. It is the 
“law of the Spirit of life,” freeing us from the “law of sin 
and death,” also the seeing of things from the heavenlies, 
or God’s view point. Pentecost. A life in the Spirit. 

“Have you on the Lord believed? 

Still there’s more to follow. 

Of His grace have you received? 

Still there’s more to follow.” 

And remember, it is first the blade, then the ear, and 
then the full corn. The full ear is not possible where 
there has not first been the little blade. A child must 
first learn the alphabet before it can read. It must first 
know the figures before it can add or subtract. A master 
repeatedly annoyed his pious servant by giving him diffi¬ 
cult questions to answer. One day he came to him with 
a New Testament in his hand and desired him to explain 
a certain verse of Scripture from the book of Romans. 
The servant asked his master if he had done all that he 
was told to do in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. “No, 
I have not,” said the master. “Then,” said the servant, 
“you are getting on too fast, too fast. Do all that you 
are told to do until you get to Romans, and you will under¬ 
stand it well enough ; for it is written, Tf any man will do 
His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of 
God.’ ” Obedience to present revelations is the best step¬ 
ping-stone to new revelations. Doing the things which 
we have seen makes us eligible to visions of things in 
which He will yet appear unto us. Following the light 
that we have is the sure path to more light. “Then shall 
we know if we follow on to know the Lord.” 



I T is said that a little way west of Mount Zion, near the 
Jaffa Gate, is a little terrace on the top of the water¬ 
shed so level that the rain coming down from heaven 
upon it seems at a loss which way to go. But part of it, 
perhaps by the breath of heaven, is carried over in the 
west side and descends into the valley of Roses, and down 
to the beautiful plain of Sharon. There it diffuses itself 
abroad, and fertility and beauty and flowers and fruits 
spring up all about the plain, until it is all exhaled from 
the fragrant cups of lilies and roses of Sharon to heaven. 
But a large part finds its way to the other side of the ter¬ 
race, and descends down, down, below Mount Zion, 
through the dark valley of Tophet, a type of hell, the val¬ 
ley of Hinnom—“Valley of Fire,” as it is called—to the 
Dead Sea, where it brings forth the apples of Sodom and 
is lost, lost forever, in the bitter waters of the sea of 
Death. 

On that Damascus road there was a water-shed with 
its solemn terrace of destinies. And Paul was not there 
alone. On that terrace two groups of precious immortal 
souls met, each bent on the same hellish mission. Paul 
stands alone as the representative of one group. “The 
men which journeyed with him” comprise the other 
group. Each group was brought face to face with the 
same scene. Each witnessed the same strange phe¬ 
nomena. Each was affected by what they saw. Each 
fell to the earth. Each was confronted with the same op¬ 
portunity. But see the difference in the results. Paul 
calls upon Jesus; the others do not. As by the very 




PAUL’S CONYEESION 99 

breath of heaven Paul is wafted into the kingdom, while 
the others continued in the old ways of sin. To Paul the 
vision became “the savor of life unto lifeto the others, 
the savor of death unto death.” Paul becomes a flam- 
ing apostle; the others continue as fire-brands of iniquity. 
At the parting of the ways Paul went upwards into light 
and knowledge and power and glory; the others went 
down into darkness and sin and shame and despair. 

“Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, 

In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side; 
Some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or 
blight, 

Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right, 
And the choice goes by forever ’twixt that darkness and that 
light.” 

Nearly a quarter of a century ago the author of this 
little volume, in company with one of his boon compan¬ 
ions in sin, stood in a bar-room in a little village in Lan¬ 
caster county. It was the last night of the old year. On 
a little hill in that same village stood a small, unpreten¬ 
tious house of worship in which a few humble Christians 
had gathered for the purpose of holding a watch-night 
service. At the sound of the ringing of the church bell 
one said to the other, “What’s going on up at the 
church?” The other replied, “A watch-night service.” 
“Let us go up,” the first suggested, “and see what they 
are doing.” We went. Both of us sat in the same pew. 
Both heard the same scriptures read. Both listened to 
the same testimonies. Both heard the same sacred songs. 
Both listened to the same prayers. To the writer and his 
worldly associate that quiet little service was their Da¬ 
mascus road. The author rose for prayer; his associate 
kept his seat. Under the same religious constraint the 
writer looked by faith that night to the crucified One; his 
associate refused to look. The writer went out of that 
little house of worship to walk the King’s highway of 
holiness; his associate went out to walk the same old 
ways of sin and pain and woe. 


100 PAUL ’S CONVERSION 

Some years ago, two lads were standing on the cor¬ 
ner of two streets. They were talking earnestly. There 
was a little meeting at the chapel near, and one was try¬ 
ing to persuade the other to go. Both were sons of 
Christian parents; both were brought up under good in¬ 
fluences. Said the one to the other: “I am going to the 
chapel tonight. Father expects it; our minister expects 
us; our Sunday-school teacher expects us; everybody 
who thinks most of us expects us to be there. I am go¬ 
ing. Come, you go, too.” “Oh, I can’t; I don’t want to 
be a Christian. I won’t be. I am not ready; but I know 
I shall if I go, so I shan’t go.” “And I shall,” said his 
companion. One went one way; the other the other way. 
Each made his choice and it proved to be a choice for life. 
The one united with a church, and is an earnest, Christian 
man, a rising lawyer, beloved and honored. The other 
turned his back upon God and the church. Today he 
keeps a gambling house, and has been heavily fined for a 
drunken fight. 

“Two paths lie before you, which one will you take? 

For now is the time when a choice you should make; 

The first leads to Jesus, the soul’s dearest friend, 

The other in darkness and ruin will end. 

“Two paths lie before you, the narrow and wide; 

The first has its way-marks, the other no guide; 

Think well ere the final decision you make; 

Two paths lie before you, which one will you take? 

“The first has its trials, but you shall be strong, 

With Jesus your Savior to help you along; 

The first has its crosses that all must endure, 

And yet to the faithful the crown will be sure. 

“Two paths lie before you, and what will you say? 

A question so urgent admits no delay; 

If you would be happy this course you must take; 

The good you must follow, the evil forsake.” 








































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